The Slytherin Queen
by the gray rose7
Summary: A dark cloud appeared over the magical world. The Dark lord was back, no matter the denial of the ministry. And Rosalind knew it. She knew that a war was coming, and she knew that her housemates were likely to fight. So would she. But for no noble reason. Rosalind wanted revenge, and revenge she would have. By any means necessary.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, this is my second ongoing story, and it may be posted irregularly. But, please give it a shot. It's based on a fic my friend FireLadyMoon has written. Therefore, the characters are not solely mine, since we developed the ideas together. If you have time, give her fic a shot as well.

On another note, I would much appreciate any reviews, I love hearing from you. Thanks :D

* * *

Chapter 1: The return of the queen

Something warm pressed against my eye lids and I tapped blindly around my nightstand, reaching for my wand. After a few unsuccessful attempts, and a frustrated sigh I managed to locate the blasted thing and I waved it in the general direction of the window, genuinely relieved when the sun was hidden behind the heavy dark green curtains.

I buried my face in the pillow hopping that I would fall back asleep. Unfortunately, my brain was wide awake, and an image of a castle flashed through my mind. Hogwarts.

We were going back today, I remembered, and sighed again. Nothing would remain the same this year, not since the Dark Lord came back. Nowhere was safe, and no one would be spared. How utterly troublesome. I snapped my eyes open and pulled the covers from myself, sitting up and lowering my legs gently on the floor.

No, nothing would remain the same, but I had been waiting for it. I was no fool, and it was only a matter of time before the wretched man came back. And if he thought that he could hurt my family again, he was oh so very wrong. This time, not only his deatheaters would die. No, this time I would do my damn best to kill him. Not for a stupid reason such as nobility or altruism. No. I wanted revenge, and revenge only.

I waved my wand again, summoning my clothes and having them follow me in the bathroom.

It was illegal, underage magic that is. But the Ministry was always, persuaded, to do what the purebloods with enough galleons wanted them to do.

I brushed my teeth quickly, and as I stepped into the shower I swore under my breath. Arielle had once again left her shampoo in my shower. Why the girl could not use any other shower in the manor, Merlin knew that there were many to spare, was beyond me.

Once showered, and fully clothed in my uniform I stepped in front of the full body mirror in my room. My reflection in the mirror frowned at my green tie, and I smoothed it out. My house would also change this year, and as faces of my housemates flashed in my mind one by one, I couldn't help but wonder how many of them would take the dark mark, or how many were considering getting it at the moment.

The Slytherin house was not a place to make friends, perhaps acquaintances at best. Most of them were blood relatives, closer or more distant, but none of the family love could be sensed there. Except for Daphne and Astoria. I was rather fond of the sisters, as they were my playmates from childhood. Mine and Meldoy's of course.

Ah Melody, she was probably still asleep. So much for the hard work of a Hufflepuff. At this, my reflection smirked. Sisters, twins at that, belonging to Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Ridiculous.

It was also rather funny , in my opinion, that two of my closest friends, save for my sister, belonged to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Speaking of annoying Gryffindor friends…

I waved my wand once more, and from my desk flew a piece of parchment and a quill, along with an ink pot. Another wave and the quill pressed itself against parchments, waiting from my instructions.

"Not so dear Arielle Hayes" I spoke and the quill scribbled the words onto the parchment. "Upon entering my shower today, I had established that you once again left your personal belongings there. Find enclosed your shampoo, and do heed my advice. If I find it again, I will hex your red head off. My worst, Rosalind Valeria Kersey."

My reflection in the mirror smirked as another thought came to mind. "P.S. Don't be late today, because, Melody, or no Melody, I will leave without you."

With another wave of my wand, the letter was folded and ready to be sent.

"Tolly!" I called, and in a second, a pop was heard behind me.

"Good morning mistress Rosalind" came a shrill voice, and I turned to see a small house elf bowing to me, her long pointed nose touching the floor.

"Good morning Tolly" I greeted, noting that she had a new dress on. "Your new dress looks lovely."

The house elf grinned in response and I allowed myself a small smile. Tolly was very old, and she had been with me, as my personal house elf, from the moment I was born.

"Thank you mistress" squeaked she, her voice rising in volume out of sheer happiness.. "How may Tolly help mistress?"

"I have a letter to be sent, send out Greyclaw." I spoke, taking the letter from mid-air and handing it to the waiting elf.

"It's for Arielle, you know what to do" I instructed.

"Yes mistress, " spoke Tolly, bowing once again. "Will mistress be coming down for breakfast?"

"I will, have them prepare my tea." I spoke, turning to the mirror once again. "That is all Tolly, thank you."

The house elf disapparated with a pop and I sighed, fixing a strand of my hair. I liked to keep it short, cut down gradually so that the front reached half way to my shoulders. My hair was blond, as was that of the entire side of my mother's family.

With one final look, I turned to the doors, leaving the room. I had made my decision. My sister would not die for being too kind, I would kill the blasted man before he could lay one spell on her, and all those foolish enough to stand in my way. And I had no doubts about getting my way, after all I was a Kersey. And what a Kersey wants, a Kersey gets.

* * *

I descended the stairs and made my way to the dining room, finding it empty, save for my grandfather, who sat at the head of the table, reading the Daily Prophet. Nally was also there, and the house elf bowed as I entered the room.  
"Good morning Grandfather" I greeted, taking a seat a couple of chairs away from him. My grandfather was a closed-off man, not unlike myself, and we usually spent our time together in silence.

This morning seemed to be an exemption, as he addressed me the moment I sat down.

"I need to talk to you Rosalind, come see me in my office after you've had your breakfast." Spoke he, his voice a rumble, observing me over his glasses.

"Of course Grandfather" I spoke and he nodded to me, before hiding behind his copy of the newspapers again.

I chose to eat lightly that morning, so I took some scrambled eggs and a piece of bread along with tea. Unlike most, I could not eat when I was nervous, and even though I would not admit that to anyone else, I felt anxiety about the return to Hogwarts.

"Hello my little snake" came a voice and I turned to the doors, only to see my grandmother walking in, more gliding then stepping, as she made her way to my grandfather. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough" I responded, taking a bite from my breakfast and glancing at my grandmother. She chose to wear a dark green set of robes today, which I highly approved of, and she walked up to my grandfather, kissing his cheek in greeting and sitting beside him. My grandfather murmured a good morning in return, still reading. They were an odd pair, since my grandmother was rather fond of the physical part of any relationship and my grandfather was distinctively uncomfortable with it, just like me. But they were the two of the happiest people I know, considering everything that has happened.

"Melody is still asleep, I take it?" spoke my grandmother with a fond smile.

"Of course, she is the most lazy Hufflepuff I have met." I responded, a smirk on my lips. I noticed that the corner of my grandfather's mouth turned upwards as well, but he remained otherwise unresponsive.

"And you have met so many Hufflepuffs, aside from jinxing them for breathing on your way have you Linds?" came a voice, so alike my own. Melody walked into the room, a smile on her face adding a teasing note to her words.

"I have met enough" I spoke, smirking." And I assure you, I have no patience to meet any more."

"And I assure you that I was not sleeping, I was merely resting for the tedious journey to our education facility" spoke she with a grin and burst out in a fit of giggles. "You talk like you have swollen a broomstick Linds".

"Thank you sister, you are always so very kind." I murmured, taking a sip of my tea and smirking.

"Now, now girls" spoke our grandmother, the grin on her face identical to the one my sister wore. "You are both my lovely little granddaughters. A badger and a snake at that!" laughed she.

The rest of the breakfast was spent in a similar matter, and I waited a couple of more minutes after my grandfather left, and then followed him into his office.

* * *

I walked through the heavy mahogany doors to see my grandfather sitting behind his desk. The fireplace was alight and the warm glow of the fire bathed the room in orange shades.

For once, I did not find my grandfather reading, instead his light grey eyes were trained on me from the second I opened the doors of his office.

I walked forward and he motioned for me to have a seat.

"You wished to talk grandfather?" I asked, folding my hands in my lap, my wand in my robes.

"Yes" spoke he, clasping his hands together and leaning on them, his keen eyes observing me, calculating.

"Fourteen years ago, I lost my only son, to the long and bitter war." Spoke he, his voice showing no emotion. "You and your sister and the only thing I have left from him."

He made a pause then, seeming to allow me to grasp the meaning he hid in his words.

"Yet the war has started again. The Dark Lord has returned, at least according to the Potter boy." I spoke, narrowing my eyes at that.

My grandfather nodded in approval of my words, seeming to be content with the way I was thinking.

"Correct. You, of course are safe from them, from him. " spoke he, " A pureblood, Slytherin and showing no love for muggle-borns or half-bloods. Save for Arielle and Claudia."

"And Melody is not" I spoke, continuing his train of thought. "She is everything they resent in a pure-blooded witch. A friend of muggle-borns, kind, loyal with no pride in her lineage. A blood traitor."

"And they will come for her" spoke my grandfather" make an example out of her."

Neither of us spoke a word after that, both turning to stare at the fire.

"You have always been cunning, even as a child" spoke he, and I noticed a small smile on his face as he spoke. "Exactly like your father, you know how to get what you want. "

He turned serious and spoke again after a while "I am old Rosalind. My magic is still strong, but how long I would last in a duel is doubtable. Antila and I can no longer protect you. But you…."

At this, he turned to me, "You were born powerful child, your magic is the strongest of our family, perhaps in a dozen generations. You need to be the one to protect both your sister, and yourself."

"They won't get her grandfather," I spoke "I promise you that."

"Very well child, show me just how strong you are. " spoke he , standing up with a smile on his face.

I stood up as well.

"I won't be able to come see you off." Spoke he again "Have a successful year child."

"Thank you grandfather" I smiled in response and turned to leave. I was a step away from the doors as he called my name, making me turn to face him. "Oh, and Rosalind? Show them exactly what happens when one insults a Kersey. As you young would say it, give them hell."

"You can rely on me grandfather " I smirked, and left the office.

* * *

Platform 9 and ¾ was bustling; full of the students attending Hogwarts, yet I noticed that there were fewer students this year, than the one before. Some students apparently were not returning to the formidable school.

Melody also seemed to notice and she threw me an anxious look. Her eyes darted around the station, as if she expected a Death Eater to jump from behind some wall and start shooting curses at people.

"Calm down Melody" I spoke, rather bored as I already concluded that there was no one worth fighting present. Some of the parents were Death Eaters, that much I could tell from my grandfather's stories, but none of the dangerous ones were free, or foolish enough to attack in the middle of broad daylight, especially not a Kersey. The children of those Death Eaters belonged to my house, and would therefore not dare breathe against my sister, let alone curse her.

She seemed to ignore my words, and continued her anxious walk by my side. Honestly, why the girl had no self-confidence was beyond me.

I noticed Avery in front of us and he lowered his head as our eyes met, wisely choosing to stay clear from my way, even though he was my senior. I smirked as the familiar feeling of superiority returned, how good indeed it was to go back to Hogwarts.

We stopped in front of the carriages and I glanced at the grand clock that hung a little further down the platform from us. It was fifteen to eleven, and I was impatient to get out of the crowd, the noise of a hundred voices proving to be a torture to my ears.

I turned back to my sister and noticed a flurry of blue and black run past me, hugging my sister and nearly sending the both of the stupid girls to the ground. Both of them laughed like two idiots and I let out a sigh. This part, I could not miss.

"Come on Claudia, you could have hardly missed her, you saw each other two days ago, when you even stayed the night, or did you forget that tiny little detail?" I sneered, rather uncomfortable by the public display of emotion.

The girl in question turned back to me, her eyes glowing with happiness as she greeted me, making me decide that she really had to start fearing me a bit more. "Hello to you too Linds."

Thankfully, she spoke a couple of steps away from me, not trying to engage in any sort of physical interaction with me, knowing that she would end up in Saint Mungo if she tried.

"No hug?" I smirked and as she grinned in response I added, "smart girl, unlike some others I could name."

Perhaps it were my words that summoned her, but in a second, my vision was impaired by the flurry of red hair and I found myself chocking in the embrace of my Gryffindor fri… acquaintance.

I had, in the brief second I was given, managed to get my wand and I hissed "_Relashio!"_

Arielle was sent staggering away from me, as if she were punched, but she landed on her feet, laughing like a maniac. I only noticed these aspects from the corner of my eye, for my attention was caught by movement to my right as I was still in the embrace of my friend.

Nott had passed Claudia and he bumped in her so hard that her book was sent flying to the floor and she staggered, almost falling under the train, were it not for my sister who had caught her wrist in the last second. He had also muttered to her, "Watch where you are going _mud-blood_, and I knew that Arielle had not noticed the exchange.

I had, and it amazed me that he had dared harm my friend in front of me. Perhaps my authority was diminishing in the Slytherin house, something I would set right the moment I stepped through the doors of the common room.

For now, I would have to settle with Nott.

"Nott" I called across the student body, not very loudly, but the boy in question heard me alright. He turned around, his face growing pale. His eyes flew to my wand, then to Clo who was watching the exchange silently, and then to me again.

It was in that moment that I realized that he had not known that I was also present in the scene, and that I now scared the living daylights out of him.

Good, I thought, smirking.

He lowered his head immediately, nodding his apology to my friend, his cheeks reddening in obvious anger.

"If he even looks your way the wrong way Clo" I spoke and Arielle snapped to attention, her wand out at my words. "tell me." I smirked. "I promise he will never think of even breathing in your vicinity."

"You don't need to do that Linds" spoke she, plastering a smile across her face, but I could see that the words of that worm Nott had shook her up.

"You're a friend." I spoke, moving away from them and making to board the train. "An insult to you is an insult to me."

"What insult? What happened?" demanded Arielle, her head turning from side to side in search of the enemy.

"Nothing" I muttered, glancing in every compartment as we passed them, searching for one that would be free, or at the very least not taken up by a group of timid Hufflepuffs, overachieving Ravenclaws or stupidly brave and self-confident Gryffindors. Well, now that I think about it, I was searching for people from Slytherin that I could stand for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Namely, Astoria and Daphne.

"What happened Clo?" asked Arielle, not believing a word I said. Smart.

"Well, Nott bumped into me" spoke she, and I noticed that she was uncomfortable with the subject, her tone slightly trembling and higher than it was in normal circumstances. "But really, nothing happened, Linds took care of it."

"That can't be it." Snapped Arielle, obviously noticing the same amount of uncertainty to Clo's voice as I had.

"He called her a mud-blood" spoke my sister, deciding to be ahead of Arielle who would surely turn on her next.

"I'll hex his balls off!" snarled Arielle, making to trudge forward, past me, but I held out my hand, stopping her.

"No, I handled it." I spoke, frowning as we stopped in front of the compartment with the Golden Trio. How utterly lovely.

"Yes, and I am going to handle it as well" snapped she, pushing past me.

I stopped her however, drawing my wand and her eyes narrowed.

"No. Nott is a Slytherin, you will not lay one hex on him. He is mine." I hissed at her "Or the next time one of your darling little cubs hexes one of my housemates, I will make sure to send him to the hospital wing."

Arielle narrowed her eyes even further, but in the end huffed, hiding her wand. We had an agreement, she and I. She did not touch Slytherins, and I did not touch Gryffindors, all others were fair game.

She moved past me, stretching and throwing over her shoulder.

"Fine, fine, you handle it, let's find a compartment, I want a nap."

I rolled my eyes at her, but hid my wand as well, there was no need for it at the moment.

We walked a bit further, only to find a compartment of Slytherins. There were the Greengrass sisters, and with them, to my disappointment, were Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Tracy Davis.

The latter two were sitting rather close together, and he smirked as she leaned over to him, exposing her entire cleavage, and biting on his ear.

It was my turn to huff now, annoyed at the behaviour they displayed. They could at least draw the curtains, and not ruin the reputation of the entire house, just because one of them seemed to be physically unable to keep his pants on and the other was the whore of the Slytherin house.

This, however, was not my priority, what I was set on at the moment, was getting as far as I could from the compartment.

Unfortunately for me, two of the worst imaginable things happened. The compartment next to them was empty, and Arielle strolled in, claiming a seat as her own and slouching on it, followed by my sister and Clo. The other thing was that Astoria noticed me, and smiled, drawing the attention of Zabini, the only person I would like to avoid at all costs in my schooling, and one of the few people who kept following me around like an idiot, even though I hexed him on every occasion imaginable.

A stupid grin spread across his face and he rose to his feet, ignoring the clinging girl that stuck to him as if she were glued to his person. Disgusting.

"Hello Roseycheeks" greeted he, opening the doors of the compartment before I could lock them, and entering with his attachment. He didn't seem to notice that she was trying to drool all over his neck, making my stomach twist in disgust. "Hello Melody, Hayes" greeted he, ignoring Clo, as he did on every occasion. I supposed that this was better than insulting her outright but it still riled Arielle up, and annoyed me.

"Claudia is here as well Zabini" snapped she, and to the amazement of all of us, he grinned at Arielle and turned to Clo, smiling and speaking "Hello Claudia."

The surprise of all present was apparent, Tracy stopped drooling on him and stared at him, Melody's eyes bulged out as did Clo's, while Arielle gaped at him. It seemed I was the only one to have kept any dignity in my surprise.

"I am glad that you know our names. Now, if that were all, and you did not in fact wish to demonstrate that you know how to count to six as well, you can be on your way." I spoke, waving my wand and opening the doors for him.

"You wound me Rosey" muttered he, crossing his hand across his heart dramatically, as Tracy hugged him on the side, smirking at me.

"Not fatally unfortunately." I hissed and with one cold glare, took out a book, beginning to read and ignoring the obnoxious boy. He had begun his pursuit of me last year, clearly intending to make me one of his conquests, which I had no intention on being.

"Come one Blaise" cooed Tracy, her hand lowering on his back. "I want to show you something."

He glanced down at her, than at me, and then back at her.

"You go, I'll catch up" he smirked, and he watched as she disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

"She's damn clingy" muttered he, and grinned to me as I refused to look up. "See you later Rosey, girls" spoke he, disappearing in the opposite direction from Tracy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I forgot a general disclaimer in the first chapter: Anything you may recognize from the original books is not mine.

* * *

Chapter 2: Meddling frogs

"What…." Started Melody, and I noticed hesitance in her voice, prompting me to look up from my book and see that she was still dumbfounded by the conversation that took place. "Was that?"

"It seems Blaise stepped up his game" smirked Arielle, waggling her eyebrows suggestively in my general direction. "Will you give in, oh queen of ice?" laughed she.

I took out my wand and cast a stinging jinx her way, and she hid behind a Protego Clo had cast in anticipation of my response.

"I am aware that your intelligence is below average Arielle dearest" I sneered, opening my book again and lowering my gaze to the letters, as the conversation suddenly lost its appeal to me. " But I do find it dreadful when you choose to display that trait , or lack of it, so openly. It is disturbing to say the least."

I heard her laugh heartily at that remark and I added as an afterthought "And if you dare even think that I would have any sort of relationship, or Merlin forbid, contact, with the slime, I promise you that a Protego will not stop me from rearranging your awful features."

"Don't be mean Linds" chided Melody, causing the other two occupants of the compartment to laugh.

I just hummed in response, the both of us knowing that I would not abide her words. Arielle provoked me and I knew that she did it intentionally, knowing that I would insult her immediately. In my opinion, that was more than enough reason to put her back in her place.

"Linds always is so charming to be around " laughed Arielle, squealing as she ducked to avoid being hit by one of the cushions in the compartment I had charmed to aim for her insufferable red mane of a head.

"Shut it " I snarled, muttering "_Muffliato!"_ and pointing to myself, drowning out all of the noise from my surroundings, folding my feet beneath me, my back straight as I leaned back, ready to enjoy my book for the rest of the journey, despite my obnoxious friends.

After about a half of the train ride, the doors to the compartment slid open, and I looked up, noticing the movement.

There stood a rather tall boy, whom I recognized as Gabriel Truman, a Hufflepuff in the same year as both my sister and I. He had rather long, sandy brown hair, almond shaped murky green eyes and a prominent jaw line. He had the potential to develop in a rather handsome man, despite his inability to hold a decent conversation. His eyes darted across the compartment, widening slightly as he noticed me, moving to my sister and once more shortly glancing back at me. He therefore demonstrated another trait I disliked in men, cowardice.

I raised my wand lazily, waving it slightly and lifting the charm from myself, in order to hear the conversation that was about to take place, smirking as I noticed that the boy before us grew ever so pale at the movement.

Arielle chuckled opposite me and I knew that she was amused as well by the behaviour displayed.

Melody seemed to take pity upon the boy, as one would upon a wounded puppy and spoke, drawing his attention away from me and to her. I didn't miss the chance as his eyes left my wand to meet my eyes in passing to smirk with an eyebrow raised , twirling my wand in my fingers and observing the boy over the rim of my reading glasses.

"Hello Gabriel" spoke my sister, her voice ever so soft, full of kindness. Rather annoying, to be honest.

"He- hello" stuttered he, obviously still nervous. "Professor Sprout wishes to let you know that the meeting of the prefects will be taking place an hour later than scheduled."

"Thank you" smiled my sister in response, dismissing the boy subtly. He took the cue rather quickly and wasted no time in departing from the compartment, as if the Dark Lord himself was on his heels. Now that I think about it, he may as well have been.

As soon as he had closed the doors to the compartment, Arielle started to laugh loudly, her laughter ringing through the compartment, joined by the small giggles coming from Clo sitting beside me.

My sister bit down on her lip, trying hard not to laugh.

"You…" laughed Arielle, her voice cracking from laughter "sent .. him.. running… with … a …. Look Linds!" managed she, gasping for breath.

"Now, now, that's not nice" I smirked, slightly entertained myself, "We should not mock the boy. I am a scary witch. He did find me reading a book, dangerous…. He is right to fear the big bad snake."

This sent my sister of the edge and she shook with unrestrained laughter, and as I heard my friends chocking with laughter, I could not help but chuckle as well.

* * *

I pulled my cloak around myself tighter, observing the lit station filled to the brim with students making their way to the carriages.

My friends were slow to get out and I was starting to get annoyed really fast. The carriages would be filled by the time we got to them, and I'd be damned before I walked the road all the way to the old castle.

I glanced back, only to see the three of them walking leisurely to me, seeming not to have noticed that the station was becoming emptier by the second.

"Hurry up will you?" I demanded, more than a little annoyed at them for taking their time and walking on forward, letting Arielle whine behind me about impatience.

If I had thought that I was annoyed before I arrived in front of the two remaining carriages, I was sorely mistaken. You see, neither of them was empty.

There were three seats available in the carriage occupied by a second year Hufflepuff and one seat available in the carriage that was occupied by none other than Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, and to my immense disappointment Blaise Zabini.

Now, if one was intelligent in the slightest possible degree, it would have been obvious what the solution to the problem would be.

There was no way for me to force the little runt to move to the Slytherin carriage , save for brute force, and none of my friends would volunteer to ride with my housemates. So, with one angry glare backwards to my friends, I walked up to the carriage looking up at the occupants who were staring back at me.

Melody seemed sorry that I was forced to sit with Blaise in the same carriage, and she bit on her lip, this time nervous, Clo seemed equally anxious but Arielle smirked at me, knowing that I disliked the man with every fibre of my being. And she enjoyed it, she was always up for teasing on the romance matters, especially on such "hopeless attractions" as she mockingly called the unfortunate situation. What a lovely friends she was.

On the other hand, the Slytherins seemed to be hiding their emotions rather well, save for Blaise who was positively glowing down at me.

"Do you mind if I ride with you?" I asked, looking up with my head tilted, making it clear that this was not a question.

"Of course not Rosey!" exclaimed Blaise, placing his hand on his chest, right where his heart was, in mock shock. "It will be our privilege!"

I blatantly ignored him and observed Draco who nodded in response.

"Here, let me help you Rosey " spoke Blaise, offering me his hand.

I glanced at it shortly, raised my eyebrow and climbed the carriage on my own, sitting next to Draco and ignoring Blaise who didn't seem to be put off in the slightest by my behaviour.

"How are you Roseycheeks?" spoke he and I glanced at him, immediately glancing away as he beamed at me.

"Fine." I replied curtly, turning to Draco.

"Hello Draco, Pansy" I spoke, glancing at each in turn and promptly ending the conversation, before it could start.

"Hello" spoke Draco, and Pansy nodded mutely, obviously annoyed with Blaise.

"Enjoyable summer?" I asked, more to interrupt Blaise as he made to speak, than out of any true interest.

"Fairly" responded Draco and I glanced at Pansy, expecting an answer.

"Quite." Responded she grudgingly.

"You cut your hair" I remarked, trying to avoid Zabini that was about to open his mouth to respond even though I did not address him in any shape or form. "It looks…. Lovely."

The both of us knew that I was lying through my teeth, but Pansy nodded, and spoke just as dishonestly. "Thank you."

"I always preferred short hair" spoke Blaise, winking at me and I had to fight with myself to keep my hands clasped without drawing my wand. I knew he was referring to my own hair, that was cut short since third year and that only annoyed me since most of the girls he had been with had long hair, therefore proving that he was lying.

I remained silent and I stared to the side, observing the path we rode on, although the sun was setting and not much could be seen.

One would therefore not be surprised that I stood up as soon as the carriage came to a halt, walking away briskly from my company.

I stepped in front of the carriage my friends had arrived in ,and I glared at each of them in turn as they climbed down, scaring the little Hufflepuff half to death and sending him running from the group.

"Do you have any idea" I started, my gaze moving from Clo, who looked away, to my sister that seemed genuinely remorseful, and finally landing on my red haired friend who was smirking at me. "How utterly obnoxious, disgusting and most of all disturbing this ride has been?"

"Oh chill Linds" spoke she, turning away from me and reaching a hand to touch the thestral in front of her.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but did nothing further, knowing full well that this battle could not be won. Therefore, I huffed, annoyed with her and with the obnoxious prat, and with the world.

I approached another thestral myself, offering my hand for him to sniff. I felt warm breath on my skin as he took in my smell and as he neighed in content, in the same time giving me permission to pet him. I gently ran my hand from the top of his head to his nose.

"Don't you think that you're overreacting about this whole Blaise thing?" spoke Arielle, and I noticed that both Clo and my sister decided to keep their distance.

"No, I do not think I am. I have made it clear on several occasions that I do not in fact wish to interact with the boy in any way, shape or form. It seems that he only understands hexes and curses. So that's exactly what I am going to use, in order to make him stay as far as possible from me." I spoke and the horse nudged my hand in a silent request for me to continue my petting, which I had stopped doing in my response.

"So why not give him a chance?" asked she and I turned around, expecting for her to be joking. But she was not, instead, she was deadly serious.

"Because I am no trophy to be won." I snapped, irritated even more at her stupid remark. She made it sound like I was the one at a wrong here. "He only wishes to sleep with me, and to boast about it later on. Excuse me for finding that offensive."

"That doesn't have to be true Linds" spoke my sister, ever trying to see the good in people. "it may be that he truly likes you."

"I don't think so " spoke Clo, still as far away as she could possibly be from the skeletal horse. "I think Linds is right."

"Thanks Clo" I replied, "Finally someone with some sense in this group."

"Now Clo dearest" grinned Arielle, abandoning the thestral she had been petting and throwing her hand around the shorter girl's shoulders, pulling her in a half hug and making her stumble in the display of brutish strength. "Don't you go turning cynical like little miss I hate the world over there" she spoke, pointing her thumb in my general direction.

"I am not cynical "I snapped at her, narrowing my eyes at the stupid red head. "I am merely seeing things as they are."

"No you are not!" laughed Arielle, "you are the most bitter girl I have ever seen."

I was about to retort, but my sister beat me to it, typically siding with Arielle. Thanks a bunch Sis.

"Well, you do tend to see the bad side of things Linds" spoke she, in the same time giving me an apologetic smile.

"Yes!" spoke Arielle, letting go of Clo and throwing her fist dramatically in the air, as if she won some prestigious award.

"Thanks Mells!" exclaimed she, grinning from ear to ear in my direction "It's three against one, we win!"

"Oh but Ari" I spoke, smirking at her, "Clearly you do not. Three against one is hardly fair is it? I reckon you need a couple of dozen of people more to win over me."

"Ego much?" smirked Arielle at me and my answer was intercepted by a gasp from Clo. Arielle spun about, her wand drawn out, ready to tackle anything, and her eyes searching the perimeter quickly before settling on Clo's watch.

"We're late!" exclaimed she with sadness and horror one normally feels upon learning they have lost a very close relative. The shock and horror quickly morphed into desperations that turned into panic. "We're going to get expelled!"

She turned to run up the hill to the castle, but my sister and Ari held her back.

"Breathe Clo " smiled my sister, patting her back gently.

"Don't panic!" laughed Arielle, once more hugging the girl jokingly as they set off on the path, and I joined them immediately. "They can hardly kick us out!"

"What… What do you mean?" asked Clo, slightly more in control of her fear at the moment.

"We are the four most important people in that entire student body, the castle is nothing without us!" smirked Arielle and Clo did not look so impressed with her confidence.

"Ego much?" I echoed and Arielle only grinned my way in response.

"What is it you midget?" asked she, pretending not to have heard me, making me draw my wand and aiming at her. "I can't hear you , you have to speak up !"

"Come again?" I spoke, narrowing my eyes at her and she laughed merrily in response.

"We're going to get expelled…. We're going to get expelled…." Chanted Clo, still very much panicking.

"Listen Clo" tried my sister, still walking with her, hand in hand "Remember all those stupid things Ron and Harry and Hermione did, and they never got expelled over it. The headmaster is hardly a cruel man… he won't kick us out sweetie, don't worry."

"But if he does… " spoke she, and I turned towards her "I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't go to the Muggle world, not after seeing all of this, and I can't get educated at home…"

"Listen to me Claudia Amity Beck" I snapped, turning towards her as we walked, nearing the castle.

"Albus Dumbledore is not a fool .He would never dare expel a Kersey over something as trivial as being late. Detention, perhaps, but I don't think so. And you are my friend, I promise you that the Kersey name will apply to you as well. I will bring this school to its knees if he dares expel you over something as stupid as being late for five minutes."

She didn't look that sure, but after a brief consideration she nodded in response, fear still evident in every step she took. She understood what some of the lesser intelligence could not. Money talked in this society. And there is always someone above you. Even above the headmaster, there was a school board. One that could be easily manipulated, proven by Lucius in my third year. A Malfoy was by no means more powerful and influential then a Kersey, and expelling me or my friends would be a move worthy of a fool. And if I knew something, I knew that Albus Dumbledore was no fool.

* * *

We approached the doors of the great hall and heard chatter, one that indicated the feast had yet to commence. We stood in a perfect line, and I spoke.

"So, still going to be expelled Clo?" I asked, allowing a small hint of annoyance to seep into my voice.

"No" grinned she, more than obviously relieved by the fact that we were only slightly late, and that the fact seemed of no importance. She also ignored my annoyance and I couldn't help but smirk at the absurdity of her behaviour. It was after another look at her that I realized that she was still very young, and that her view of the world still held hope.

For once, I decided that it was not my role to extinguish that hope.

"Ready girls?" asked Arielle and grinned in front of herself, more than pleased with the fact that we got to make a big entrance.

"No" giggled Melody by my side, also realizing how entertained our friend was by the flashy appearance. I swear, the fact that she was supposed to be the oldest and the most mature out of the lot of us never showed. Instead, she acted as if Clo was her senior at times, annoying me to no end.

"Tough" I smirked, waving my wand and hiding it up my sleeve in one move, opening the doors of the great hall. The entire student body, fell silent and one glance up the teacher's table told me that the headmaster was not yet present, although my head of the house was, and he was observing us with a disapproving frown on his face. I would be hearing about this later on, but I knew that that would be as far as professor Snape would take it. I had no trust for him, nor he for me, and we lived in a cohabitation of sorts for a while now, waiting for the other to slip up.

My gaze then moved to my own table and I walked up to it, never breaking my stride and taking a seat in the middle between my two peers, who scooted over to make some space for me and greeted me by nodding in acknowledgement.

I briefly noted that the Greengrass sisters sat a little further off, and as Daphne caught my eye she sent me a warm smile. One of the very few I would be receiving amongst my peers. I also noticed Astoria who smiled as well, but her eyes kept returning to a blond figure sitting a couple of seats away from her. So she fancied young Malfoy. Troublesome.

And without fail, there also sat Zabini who grinned at me, receiving no response save for a cold look. I sincerely hopped he would have given up this year, since I had shown him rather clearly that I disliked him with every fibre of my being.

And no matter how many owls he sent, and no matter that I replied to none of his letters and distinctly avoided him during social events, he persisted. Insolent brat. It seemed I would have to be more direct.

Just as I had formed that decision, a small parchment bird landed in front of me, drawing the attention of the girls sitting around me, trying to take a peek at it subtly. It was entitled "For Rosey" and I took out my wand, hissing "_Incendio!", _without even having read the content.

The small piece of parchment disintegrated before my eyes and as I looked up as a flurry of pink caught my eye at the teacher's table.

My stomach twisted in disgust as I recognized the figure with no discernable fashion sense, and a known fetish of cats. Dolores Umbridge, a half blood, trying to climb the social ladder. Despicable. I had the misfortune of meeting her, and acquired a distinct urge to buy her a mirror, or a stylist. Preferably both.

"Akhm" she called, right in the middle of the headmaster's speech. Dear Dolores thought that she had some kind of an authority here. Amusing.

The old man turned to her with an arched eyebrow. To my slight surprise, he stepped to the side, giving the obnoxious creature, for she could hardly qualify as a witch of any kind, a chance to speak.

"Thank you Albus" spoke she, giving him a sweet smile that created a distinct urge to vomit in most of the student body, myself included, before turning to us. "The Ministry of magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards…."

As her speech went on, I felt less and less fond of the idea that she would, as it was announced, take up the post of the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. She was stubby, slow and by the looks of her, not very skilled in a duel. The corners of my mouth turned up in a smirk as I considered my new teacher. There was nothing the woman could teach me, in defensive magic or otherwise.

As her speech continued, in a flurry of words with no real meaning but whose choice was made beyond a doubt with great consideration, I realized the point of her post as a new teacher. The ministry was interfering with Hogwarts. And despite the fact that I had no love for the current headmaster I found it insulting indeed that old Cornelius thought of himself as important as to meddle in the inner workings of this renown school. It seemed to me, and I was fairly certain of this conclusion, that Cornelius had no interest in education, and that his fears laid only in his own profit and privilege. Petty little thing he was, like a fly trying to be a bird. Too bad they never succeed.

My eyes searched the room and encountered those of my sister. There was a slight frown on her face and I knew she too had read well into the speech the distasteful woman had made. And it worried her.

I briefly glanced at each of my other two friends and found that they too had been paying attention. Arielle was whispering with the Weasley twins, which could not bode well for the frog, while Claudia was staring at the frog. I could almost see the gears turning in her head, as she analysed every word that was spoken, trying to find a solution. She was a smart kid, and I decided that this task was best left in her hands.

My attention was diverted from my friends by the voice of Draco Malfoy, who was sitting next to the obnoxious prat Zabini.

"Finally, the minister decided to interfere" I heard him speak and I fixed my stare on his figure. "It serves him right" continued he, looking at the headmaster. "He was given by far too much freedom. My father told me that the minister was less and less fond of the old man, perhaps he will be replaced soon."

Although I had no ill will towards Malfoy, his words unnerved me. Not because of him, or because of the headmaster, but because of Tori. She fancied him and I feared that were she to gain his attention, his influence on my younger cousin would be most damaging.

The rest of the feast seemed to fly by me as I contemplated the ever growing amount of problems I had gained. I stood up that night, leaving for my common room with a decision formed. Astoria would not be a subject to the pure-blooded mania the Malfoy family supported. I would prevent her fancy for that boy from growing into anything else.

* * *

I sat in the common room later that night with a book in my hands. There was a special sofa in the common room that, by an unwritten rule, belonged only to me. It was located in a rather favourable proximity to the fireplace, close enough for me to stay warm, yet far enough so that I was never hot.

The common room was quite empty at the moment and I enjoyed the brief moment of solitude, for I knew that the classes were starting tomorrow and that my time alone would be drastically cut. An event that caused me no joy.

Therefore I had no trouble noticing a figure that approached me, and as I recognised her from the corner of my eye, I had no desire to reach for my wand, which I had laid bellow my book, for quick access. It was a sort of a necessity in the Slytherin house to be prepared for the worst at any given time.

"Hello Astoria" I greeted as the figure sat down beside me, one of the very few people allowed to do so and not face my wrath.

"Hello Linda, how was your summer?" asked she, and I looked up from my book, noting that my cousin had kept her voice down, as to not be overheard. She was learning, it seemed to me, the etiquette of Slytherin students on higher years. Always keep your guard up.

"Somewhat enjoyable, and yours?" I replied, as we had not seen each other all that much during the summer.

"Rather dull, you know banquets and dinner parties, the usual." Spoke she, sighing remorsefully. I knew how my cousin liked to travel, yet her parents thought it best for them to refrain from doing so in these troublesome times. Her eyes shone as she continued :" I stayed in England the whole time. But you got to leave, and to such a place as Balkan, rather interesting choice I must say."

I was just about to reply before I got interrupted as a boy sat on the arm of my side of the sofa.

"What are you reading Rosey?" came the obnoxious voice, making me question my original dislike of Dolores Umbridge. Compared to Zabini, she made for a perfectly enjoyable company.

"Yes, well" I spoke, completely ignoring the arrival "my grandmother got to pick the place. And you know how she gets when she doesn't have her way. So Balkan it was. I rather liked it, especially Dubrovnik."

I could see that Astoria was about to answer, but the blasted boy interrupted once more, making my fingers twitch for my wand. "You went to Dubrovnik?" exclaimed he, being overly dramatic as per usual "And you didn't think to contact me? You could have visited me Rosey, such glorious times we could have had."

He seemed to remember that Tori was also present as he addressed her next : "And hello to you Astoria, you look as lovely as always."

"Hello Blaise" replied Astoria, obviously on the verge of laughter. She knew how annoyed I was by such blatant displays of idiotism and it amused her to no end. Thanks Tori.

"You are ruining the chair Zabini; do be as kind as to leave." I spoke, barely restraining myself from hexing the boy.

"I couldn't leave now Rosey, it's just getting interesting." Replied he, ever so sweetly. Too bad his charm would not work on me as it would on any daft bimbo that walked past him. Tracy for example.

"Oh, that's not a problem, then we will leave. Come on Astoria" I spoke, instantly getting up, my wand in hand, and my book put away in my bag with one flick of my wrist. I did not wait for Astoria to follow, as she exchanged a couple of more words with the prat.

I was rather proud of myself, for not hexing him that is. My self-control was growing, perhaps one day, I'll be able to move my record of spending fifteen minutes in the same room with him without him suffering a, preferably painful, curse. Or maybe not, I thought as I heard him say: "Oh she would never harm me …. Permanently."

"Oh yes she would" I spoke and ascended the first stair. I turned around, however, and spoke as another thought occurred to me "And if you have any doubts about it, do consider which limb you are willing to lose Let me know tomorrow, I will be more than happy to help you out." And with one more sneer I disappeared up the stairs, followed by the laughter of said boy. It was really not that funny, since I was, in fact offering in all seriousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Of loyalty and spies

The first morning of the new year in the Hogwarts school was always marked by an event at the Slytherin table. A stupid event, completely unnecessary, but insisted upon by Arielle.

So, the four of us walked into the great hall, and headed for the Slytherin table. All four of us sat down, and I noticed that my housemates tensed at our appearance. The older years at least did, and with a brief look I noticed that the faces of the first years displayed an array of emotions, ranging from disgust to absolute rage.

Of course, the youngsters did not worry me, despite them being the main actors in the play that was surely about to take place.

Arielle helped herself to some eggs with a wide grin on her face. How I hated that expression of hers, it always meant trouble.

My sister looked rather calm, it seemed like she had grown used to it with time, but my worry was centred on my young Ravenclaw friend. She seemed pretty nervous, and I knew that it was because of the events of the previous day. She knew what kind of a danger lurked outside these walls and she knew that she had just walked in the snake's nest. Arielle, in all her good intentions, could be the cruellest of us, even if she did not know it.

I met Clo's eyes and tried my best to look reassuring. She gave me a feeble smile and I knew that I did not succeed. Out of all four of us, she was in the most danger, and she knew it.

But there would be no harm for her this morning. I calmly took my newspaper from the owl that landed gracefully beside me and placed a galleon in its pouch. The stories were all the same, I concluded, half-heartedly taking a bite of my toast. Full of propaganda for the fast-falling minster and ordinary stories. Too ordinary. No disappearances, no murders, no tortures. The Dark Lord was silent, which could only mean one thing. He was preparing an army.

My attention was captured by a voice, that spoke from my right, uttering the unavoidable. "A mudblood, halfbreed and a blood traitor at the table of Salazar Slytherin. Disgusting."

The entire table fell silent and all eyes turned on our group. It was a most dangerous time to defend muggleborns and all wondered if I would do it again, like I had the year before and the year before that.

To do so would lessen my authority in the house, question it. To not do so would mean losing a friend, and ultimately surrendering her to a fate worse than death. It was a difficult choice but one I had made a long time ago.

I raised my wand ever so slightly , placing it in such a manner that an onlooker from any other table, including the head table could not see it, but the little boy definitely could.

He paled ever so slightly upon feeling my wand the back of his neck and his terrified eyes focused on me.

"You do know who I am, correct?" I asked and as he tried to nod, I pressed my wand firmly against his neck, forcing him to voice his response.

"Yes." Breathed he.

"And you do, of course, know of my reputation." I stated and once more he breathed a yes in response.

"So… let me teach you something. These girls are my friends and my sister. I do think you realize that what you said just now was beyond foolish. A word of advice. Don't make me notice you, and by no means make an enemy out of me." I spoke, fully aware that the entire house was listening.

I removed my wand and just as he breathed a sigh of relief I continued "If I ever hear you say that again, I will teach you exactly what a Cruciatus curse feels like."

With that said, I resumed reading my newspaper, noting that the conversation picked up again, albeit in whispers.

"The same every year" smiled Arielle and I gave her a stern look.

"Yes, and you insist on the idiocy every year. This year, it was the last damn thing we needed." I replied, opting to say we instead of she and I caught a grateful look from Clo. She did not want to be considered weak. Which was understandable if I thought about it.

"It's not like one of them would actually dare and attack us in the middle of the great hall. Cowardly lot, you are." Spoke she and I set my paper down again, observing her as she happily ate her toast. "Besides, it's interesting to see which one would say it."

"Yes, fascinating." I snapped "And as "cowardly " as we may be, we are no fools. Unlike your lot, hot headed and stupidly impulsive housemates."

"That's enough Linds" spoke Melody, and as Arielle laughed, assuming I would be the only one told off, she continued. "You too Arielle, don't pick a fight with her, you know how she gets."

"Oh, she's my wittle ray of sunshine" spoke Arielle and pinched my cheek , laughing as a maniac as I hissed "_Contralectus!"_ but got beaten by Clo who spoke "_Protego Totalum!"_

"No hexing" spoke Melody, taking my discarded newspaper and beginning to read.

"She deserved it" I hissed, glaring daggers at Arielle who was beginning to turn red.

"Behave" replied my sister with a smile of her own, making Arielle gasp for breath. She began choking on the bite of food she had taken, still laughing. Completely mental that one.

"_Anapneo!"_ spoke Clo, clearing the stupid girl's airway.

"That was unnecessary." I muttered but took another bite of my toast as I noted that breakfast was coming to an end, and that we would soon receive our schedules.

"Ah, the impossible four" came a voice and I looked up, smiling slightly as I recognised it.

"Hello Daphne" greeted Arielle, with that annoying lopsided grin of hers.

"Morning" I greeted, moving to the side a little so my cousin could sit beside me.

"I heard you already talked with Tori" spoke she, taking a slice of toast and some jam along with it.

"I did, and I need to talk to you as well." I replied, waving my wand and having my newspapers fly from my sister's hands back to me.

"Hey!" exclaimed she and I raised my eyebrow at her.

"What is it?" I questioned. "These _are_ mine, you know."

"Yes, yes" sighed she, turning to Daphne.

"Hello Daph" smiled she and engaged in a rather pointless conversation on Daphne's OWL exams, which I had no interest in, and therefore tuned out completely.

Once again, my reading was interrupted by a voice from across of us and I looked up to see the four heads of the houses had approached the table.

"Can't you three sit at your own tables?" spoke professor McGonagall, looking at each of us in turn and as she looked at me I noticed that there was anxiety in her eyes, some revulsion, and a hint of fear. It was clear that she forced her objectivity towards me, assuming she knew me and "my kind." Perhaps she did, and perhaps she knew nothing at all about me, or people like me.

"Sorry ma'am " replied Arielle with a grin and I rolled my eyes in annoyance as she continued "The snakes here are such fun. Especially when you get them to…" Thankfully, the idiot managed to stop before blabbering out every illicit activity she had ever committed.

"Do finish that sentence Miss Hayes" spoke professor Snape , looking down on us across that beak-like nose of his "Nothing would bring me more joy than giving you detention on your first day back."

"Sorry sir, not this year" smiled she, and with the amount of teeth she was showing, I could have sworn she would blind the man.

His upper lip curled in a sneer but other than that, he ignored the response he received, silently handing me my time table.

"Thank you sir" I spoke, tapping it with my wand, as the parchment was enchanted to open only with such an action, and glancing at the schedule. I had potions first that day and I concluded it could have been worse, DADA with dearest Dolores being one such example that came to mind.

As soon as Snape had gone further up the table, and out of ear shot, Melody spoke, clearly forgetting that three of the professors were still behind her.

"He's going to torture you this year" whispered she, and I could see that she genuinely feared the professor, as did a large portion of the student body.

"And I have him for seven periods this year" sighed Arielle, but quickly grinned. "It will be so much fun."

Her comment made me roll my eyes at her once more. She was the only one stupid enough to go and poke a sleeping dragon, well, save for my dearest cousin Bella. That one was purely mental, but the both of them enjoyed the same thing. The thrill of the chase.

"You brought this onto yourself" I spoke, sipping on my tea calmly, my eyes returning to the papers before me. My head of house had walked off, and the rest of the professors gathered in front of us held no interest for me at the moment. "Deal with it."

"Very compassionate of you Miss Kersey" spoke McGonagall, and I caught a disapproving frown as she glanced my way.

"Compassion was never one of my strong points" I smiled coldly, "but, unlike Miss Hayes here, I do possess a certain amount of self-preservation instinct."

"For yourself only, of course" replied the woman with an equally cold smile.

"Of course" I spoke, adding as a sort of an afterthought "_professor_."

She frowned down at me and I knew what her opinion of me was, even if she did not voice it. I was a future Death Eater, nothing more to her eyes. Why correct her?

"Try not to provoke Professor Snape miss Hayes" spoke she, her eyes reluctantly leaving mine, as if she thought that she was losing by looking away first.

"Will do ma'am" replied Arielle, obviously ignoring the tense atmosphere. "I can't promise you anything though."

Professor McGonagall allowed herself a small smile at these words, and after one more glance over the four of us, finishing with me, she walked away. For a woman that disliked my head of the house for his prejudice, she had a lot of her own mess to deal with.

"Here you go Miss Kersey" spoke professor Sprout, handing my sister her own time table with a smile "Glad to see you in Herbology this year." I noticed that she also seemed tense, her shoulders just a tad bit too stiff, but she showed no fear outwardly. Brave for a Hufflepuff, that I had to admit her. She smiled once more at my sister and the group of us, before turning and heading to finish her assignment over at the Hufflepuff table.

The last professor that had stayed was my favourite one out of the lot of them that had approached us. Don't get me wrong, professor Sprout was alright, never showing bias, even towards the Slytherin students as most professors did, but professor Flitwick had another trait that I admired. He was powerful.

"Here you go Miss Beck" squeaked he, levitating the time table to Clo. "Good luck."

He smiled at us and spoke again, just before he turned to leave "See you in class girls."

As he turned, he was stopped by our newest defence against the dark arts professor.

"Professor Flitwick?" called she, and smiled sweetly down at him as he turned towards her. "I was under the impression that you are the head of the Ravenclaw house." I, as the rest of my group, could see straight past that sweet smile to the arrogance the woman simply glowed with. She thought of herself as better than professor Flitwick, most likely because of his dubious parentage. To think that the frog could even imagine her superiority over a wizard such as Filius Flitwick amused me. She clearly needed to be shown where exactly it was that she belonged.

"Ah.. Good morning professor Umbridge" smiled the small wizard nervously "yes, yes I am."

"Then what" asked she, giving out a small little chuckle that was supposed to sound noble "forgive me for asking, are you doing at the Slytherin table?"

"I was giving my student her timetable." Spoke he, and hint of nervousness could be felt in his voice. He disliked the woman, that much was apparent, but he also knew that she is unpredictable. Just like her boss, and that unpredictability was the main reason she should be feared.

"I'm sorry" laughed she , that awful little cough of a laugh quickly grating on my every nerve. "I don't understand. _What are you doing here?" _the last part was spoken in a tone one usually used whilst speaking to a person of lesser intelligence. Careful Dolores.

Now, this situation was annoying me greatly, but the moment I noticed Arielle opening her mouth I knew that I would only get more annoyed.

"Professor Flitwick may be here , _professor_ _,_becauseone of his students is sitting here." Spoke she, displaying her lack of judgement.

I could see a flash of anger in Umbridge's eyes as she heard Arielle, but her smile was back in place after a second and she turned towards her, her eyes simply gleaming with malice.

"Did you say something dearie?" asked she, with that ever so sweet smile that almost begged to be hexed off.

"Yes ma'am" replied Arielle, raising her chin up, her mouth stretching in a defiant smile. Not a wise choice.

Dolores narrowed her eyes at Arielle, who seemed not to notice. I glanced at her shortly, only to find that she was daydreaming. What an idiot.

"Arielle" whispered my sister, effectively shaking her out of her daze. She blinked once and then looked up, smirking at her new professor.

"Sorry, I do that" smiled she, and I could read out that she was already planning a revenge on the blasted toad.

"Just make sure that you don't do that in class miss Hayes" smiled Umbridge, and I sat up straighter as I noticed real malice in her eyes, seconds before she spoke again, confirming my suspicion. "It would be unfortunate if you got into a detention on your first class."

This sentence was a mistake, and I would stay silent no more.

"Oh, I assure you _professor"_ I spoke, and all eyes, including Flitwick turned on me, "Arielle meant no disrespect. You must _forgive _this little misunderstanding" and as I spoke I smiled, but at the last part my eyes turned hard. "_You really must._ It would be unfortunate if _my friend_ here got accused of something she _did not do._"

I smirked once more as I finished my little message, as I could see that it was well received. Dolores grew pale at the implications, and as I finished she managed a small smile.

"Of course." Spoke she, before turning to the Gryffindor table and walking away. Flitwick gave us a nervous smile, before setting of in another direction.

"Don't get in her way" I spoke, addressing my friends and Daphne.

"Oh come on," smiled Arielle, "She is powerless."

"I know" I spoke my eyes following her retreat, "and that is precisely why she is dangerous. Don't underestimate the toad."

"We should go" spoke Clo, glancing at her watch. I did the same and I noticed that we were running short on time.

We quickly gathered our things and as Arielle and Clo walked ahead, my sister addressed me.

"That was dangerous." Spoke she, glancing my way.  
"Not as dangerous as it would have been to stay silent." I responded, noting that she was worried.

"Please, promise me you won't get into trouble." spoke she, and I knew that she was right. Angering the toad would be a great tactical drawback.

"I promise" and as those words left my mouth, the both of us knew that I lied.

* * *

I walked into the potions classroom and quickly surveyed my surroundings. There were few of us, only the very best. It seemed only three other Slytherins had managed to get into the class and I walked up to them calmly, taking a seat on the right of a tall, dark skinned girl.  
"Good morning" spoke she, and I looked up, only to see that she looked away as soon as she noticed that I was looking back at her.

"Good morning Rebecca" I responded and she seemed to relax a bit as I used her name.

"You didn't think I'd know you, did you?" I asked, reaching down and getting my potions book from my bag, placing it gently on the table.

"Well…." She started and as I looked up, she smiled nervously. "No, no I didn't."

I raised my eyebrow at that and she was quick to elaborate "Well… we never really talked and I didn't think that you'd know, sorry."

"That is alright" I spoke, dismissing her apology. "But I do know, Rebecca Blishwick, pureblood, sixth year, associated with Adelaide Murton, also sixth year and Daphne Greengrass, fifth year."

"Oh.." spoke she with a small smile. "Do you know such information on everyone in the Slytherin house?"

"Yes" I responded, deciding that was the most she had to know about my own knowledge of the Slytherin house. I, in truth, knew much more that I let on. I knew about the blood status, social status, attitude towards muggleborns, financial position and many more aspects of each Slytherin student. I made it my business to know.

"So..:" spoke she, and I could tell that she was nervous, judging by the way she wrung her hands and the occasional tap of her foot on the ground, "What do you think we'll do today?"

"I don't know." I spoke, but countered her question with a question of my own. "Why are you talking to me?"

"Ummm, well… you're a Slytherin as well, and I thought…:" she spoke and gave out a small nervous giggle "We could work together." Liar .

"Of course." I responded, keeping my guard up.

At that moment, professor Snape waltzed into the room, the doors shutting behind him with a loud bang, him waving his wand and lighting the candles that surrounded the room. Another wave and the curtains were shut, leaving the room bathed in the eerie light of the candles, bouncing off the old, cold, stone walls.

"You are here because you are the very best" droned he, and swiftly turned around, his cloak billowing between his feet. "I expect nothing but perfection from you." With that said, he stopped, and his eyes travelled the room, stopping on each and every individual, calm, cold… calculating.

His eyes lingered on mine a second longer than on those of my peers, because unlike most instances, this was a two-way process. He was assessing me, but I was, in the same time, assessing him.

Finally, his little staring tour ended and he continued on "Today, you will be making the Draught of living death. Who can tell me what the Draught of living death is used for?"

His eyes searched the room, and despite the raised hand of a Ravenclaw, he chose another student to answer, the one who feared him the most in the class.

"Umm.." the Ravenclaw girl stuttered and despite the fact that the entire room knew that she knew the answer, as she started to stutter out "It.. it's a potion" she got interrupted by a rather cruel sneer from Snape.

"Yes.. a potion. Five points from Ravenclaw miss Toray, for wasting my time." spoke he and I stared ahead impassively as the other three Slytherins laughed by my side. This was a distasteful joke, which, as entertaining as it would have been on any other day, did not sit well with me on that particular day. Because I knew another scared Ravenclaw girl, and she worried me greatly.

"Perhaps Mister McCuliber knows" spoke Snape, turning to the only Slytherin boy in the class.

"It is a potion that causes deep sleep, if used correctly it can cause an eternal sleep" Smirked he and I rolled my eyes at his childishness. Some people had bigger problems than gloating over the inventible downfall of any non-Slytherin in this class.

"Good. " smirked Snape, "Ten points to Slytherin. Now," spoke he, waving his wand and making the instructions appear on the blackboard behind him. "You have one and a half hour"

I stood up, walking to the cupboard with the ingredients, only to notice that Rebecca was following me. The girl acted oddly, and I knew that there had to be a hidden motive to her behaviour.

Some twenty minutes later, as the preparations for making the potion were well on the way, professor Snape decided to do his first round of the classroom. I noticed him from the corner of my eye and I briefly outlined my steps, checking for a mistake before he could point it out. I found none and I looked up as he approached our desk.

He glanced at Rebecca's potion, stirred it once and nodded before moving on to mine.

A quick look seemed to be enough, and I expected a comment on my potion as he spoke next. However, he seemed to be harbouring some illusions on my influence over my red headed friend.

"If you insist on being… friends…. With the Gryffindor Miss Kersey" spoke he, looking at me down his beak-like nose. "Do try and keep her on a leash. I fear that our snakes may get flees were she to be allowed to roam free."

I looked up at him, raising my eyebrow. "I have been… a reluctant acquaintance….. with Miss Hayes for six years now. I assure you professor, I tried, and I searched. But I have yet to find a leash big enough for her and her ego, yet strong enough to keep her grounded."

"Then, perhaps, you should try harder." Sneered he.

"Perhaps." I replied. "But perhaps I have no desire to take on such a laborious task."

With that said, and a final sneer, he turned away from me, swaggering off to his desk. Immature prick.

I noticed that Rebecca was glancing at me every now and again and fifteen minutes before the end of the class, I had had enough.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked, never taking my eyes off my potion, which I had been stirring at the moment.

"What?" Asked she, and as I briefly glanced up, with my eyebrow raised she spoke again. "No, it's nothing."

I waited for a couple of more seconds, before she spoke up again. "I was just wondering… what is your opinion on muggleborns?"

So that's it. A little spy.

I took out my wand and subtly pressed it against her side. She jumped a little at the contact but made no sound.

"Who wants to know?" I asked, pretending to be reading the instructions from the blackboard.

"I… I do" she stuttered and I pressed my wand harder against her side, making her squirm uncomfortably.

"Try again" I spoke through grit teeth.

"Please don't hurt me" whispered she, seemingly on the verge of tears. "He said that is was a…a … favour."

"Who?" I hissed at her, noticing that the class was coming to an end and that I was running out of time.

"Blaise Zabini." I clenched my fingers around my wand, quickly drawing it back in my sleeve, as to not hex to stupid girl.

I could see that she scooted as far away as she could from me on the chair and I quickly extracted a portion of my potion in a flask, marked it ,and gathered my things.

I stood up as soon as Snape demanded our potions, handed it to him and walked briskly out of the classroom, headed for the Slytherin common room. Someone had hell to pay.

* * *

This was crossing the line. I could tolerate his immature acts to a point, but this was too much. How dare he spy on me? I'd make him pay.

I hardly stopped as I reached the wall that hid the entrance to the Slytherin common room, clearly speaking "Meraculus Sanguis" a way off, so that the wall had some time to slide open. I strolled through them confidently, crossing the small hallway that led to the common room with brisk steps and entering the common room without breaking my stride once from the Potions Classroom

I found the boy sitting in one of the sofas by the fire, along with Nott and Malfoy. That did not matter to me all that much, because I was sure that I could take them all on at once in a duel and win without a problem.

The wretched brat was the first to notice me and his eyes took on that familiar gleam, one that usually annoyed me so.

"Hello Ro" he started and all boys present turned to me, only to focus on the wand that I had drawn in a second.

I aimed it at him as he was opening his mouth to greet me, and as those words left his mouth, I spoke simultaneously "_Incarcerous!"_

Ropes appeared from my wand, binding the brat and throwing him back in his seat. Malfoy and Nott jumped to their feet and I knew that the entire common room was observing the scene.

"Put your wands away Nott, Malfoy" I hissed at them, my eyes never leaving Zabini who was bound in his chair "I have nothing against you."

Malfoy glanced at Blaise and then reluctantly lowered his wand, stepping to the side. Nott, however did not.

"I warn you Nott, I have no patience for your stupidity " I hissed at him and noticed that Malfoy lowered his wand forcibly, physically pulling him back. I knew that Nott was not doing this to defend Zabini, instead he wished to take me on, to prove that he is stronger, a better wizard, to gain glory and respect. Fool.

Zabini had at first seemed surprised, but now he was smirking at me.

"Oh Rosey, you could have just said you wanted to play rough, I would have been glad to…. Satisfy you." Smirked he at me, obviously not realizing just in what sort of a danger he had found himself in.

"_Contralectus!"_ I hissed, and Zabini got thrown from his seat, falling to the ground with a painful thud.

"Rough enough for you, you little worm?" I asked, calmly walking up to him, whilst he managed to turn so that he was now lying on his back.

"I think" spoke he, looking up at me "that you are upset."

"You _think?_" I questioned "_Affligo!_".

His head snapped to the side, as if he had been punched, and I could see that his lip was bleeding.

"Alright, you are upset" he spoke, turning to me and I walked up to him, kneeled beside him and took hold of his chin, getting into his face.

"Listen to me you little snot-nosed brat." I hissed, my eyes narrowed "there is no way in merlin's most potent hex that I would ever even consider associating myself with you. I would rather die that allow you to even breathe in the same room as me."

He seemed like he was about to speak, but I simply dug my nails into his skin, making him flinch in pain "This is the first time you have had someone spy on me" I hissed at him, my wand gently tracing his cheek, down his neck to his chest as I spoke "and the last. "

My wand settled over his heart and I spoke again, noticing that he was not smiling anymore "If I even think that you did something like that again, you dim-witted snot, I. Will. Kill. You."

With that said, I released his chin, allowing his head to fall back on the floor without a second thought and standing up. The entire common room was staring at me and I raised my eyebrow, making them all look away in fright.

I straightened my robes once and walked out of the common room, feeling much better. Now I could go and meet my sister and Clo, since I was sure that the stupid little worm would not dare even look my way again. I had no way of knowing that I was wrong. I would be seeing more of Blaise Zabini, and not in a way one would expect.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:Instructor from hell

I found the two girls sitting, side by side and crossed legged at a small, secluded part of the shore of the black lake. My sister had found the spot in our second year, and it has been used since as our meeting spot.

Melody looked up, smiling, but as soon as she saw me, her features twisted and changed, the look of happiness replaced by fear and worry.

"What happened?" demanded she, jumping to her feet "What did you do?"

"Come again?" I asked, not really sure how she had managed to catch wind of the events in the Slytherin common room at all, let alone how the news had travelled so fast.

"What did you do?" demanded she again, and I notice Clo had looked up from her book as well, her brows furrowed in what seemed to be worry.

"I didn't do anything wrong" I replied, calmly sitting down and resting my back against the bark of a tree.

"But you did something" spoke Clo, quickly catching on to the fact that I did not deny taking action at all.

"Oh, it's something bad" moaned my sister, plopping to the floor like a bag of sand. This earned her a disapproving look from me, one she blatantly ignored.

"Why would it be something bad?" I replied, my eyes set on my bag as I rummaged about in it, trying to locate my book.

"You have the look" answered Clo and I stopped my search, only to glance up, not really believing what I had heard.

"I have _the look_?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Yes." This time, it was my sister who spoke. "Your eyes shine and you have this small, mean smile on your lips. You're…. happy." She brought her hand up, placing it on her head. "Do I have to go see which one of my housemates ended up in the hospital wing this time, or will you spare me the walk and simply tell me?"

"I didn't do anything to your darling little housemates" I laughed, somewhat amused that she figured I would pick a Hufflepuff to torture on my first day back. Silly girl, I don't go looking for a victim, my victims usually have it coming and they find me. "I finally managed to put Zabini where he belongs."

"What happened?" demanded Clo, turning to me, her interest completely with me, and her book lying discarded on her lap.

"He had a girl spy on me. I found out." I spoke and smirked, remembering the scene that happened mere minutes before. "Naturally, I was very cross, so , first thing I did after my potions class ended, I visited him in the common room. I do believe that after our little, ah, _talk_, the brat won't even think of talking to me again."

I was rather satisfied with the progress I had made and it must have been showing if my sister caught onto it.

"He isn't in the hospital wing is he?" questioned she, and I smirked in return, making her gasp and ask: "Oh Merlin, you didn't send him to St. Mungo did you?"

"Relax" I smiled, opening the book and beginning to read where I had left off. "He is not seriously injured. I am telling you , I mostly talked to him."

Silence ensued after my comment, and just when I thought that we were done on the Zabini subject once and for all, my sister spoke up again, making me cease my reading and look up, only to see her biting on her lip.

"Oh Linds.." spoke she, and I raised my eyebrow in question. "Do you honestly believe that that was a good idea?"

"Of course "I spoke, no doubt in my mind. I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why she was defending the boy.

"But he could have been good for you" spoke she, and I felt a small trace of hope in her voice "he could have helped you. You know, you wouldn't have been so lonely."

"I am not lonely" I responded, on the verge of snapping at her.

She gave me that look, full of sympathy that made me want to hex her.

"I don't think that Blaise would be able to help her, at least not Blaise that we know. If he grew up, maybe…. But now, no." spoke Clo, and I turned to her, a small smile on my lips.

"Not completely true, but better, thanks Clo" I smiled at her and she returned my smile with a small one of her own before resuming reading.

"I just hope you know what you are doing Sis" spoke Melody, and I nodded, my attention once more diverted as I had begun to read. We were waiting for Arielle, so we could all go to lunch, and my thoughts turned to how I would hex her if she turned up late, seeing how I was already starving.

Not once, at that time, did I think that my sister was right, that I was missing something, that I was lonely. I had a lot of growing up to do, and now that I think about it, we all did. Perhaps, that same growing up brought us to what we have become now.

* * *

As time passed, I kept glancing up every now and then, growing more and more restless by the second. My sister sat, facing the castle, a little ways off from me, and when she spoke, it was obvious who she was referring to.

"She's had DADA " spoke she softly, twirling a lock of her hair between her fingers and looking ahead, seemingly lost in thought. "What do you think she'll say?"

"Well, obviously, what she always says. That they are an incompetent fool, the only exception being Remus Lupin who turned out to be a werewolf. Fantastic qualities to be working with children." I mumbled, glancing up again to see if the idiot was coming or not.

"Don't say that, he was nice" spoke my sister, giving me a disapproving glance "you liked him as well."

"I did" I admitted, "but he has no business working with children."

"He was harmless." Argued my sister, rather fond of the ex-professor.

"Until he turned and ran along on a rampage across the forbidden forest." I countered.

"Why do you insist on belittling him?" asked my sister, seemingly exasperated with the conversation.

"I do not; " I spoke, glancing up again "I merely consider him a threat to the student body, and by that I do not mean to belittle his teaching abilities. He was the best teacher we have ever had, despite his …. Condition."

"You make it sound as if all your other professors were incompetent " spoke Clo, interested in the topic since she only ever had Lockhart, Lupin, Moody that turned out to be Arielle's mental cousin, and now Umbridge as her professors.

"Well… " spoke Melody, looking up, lost in thought "Remember Lockhart? I dare say he was an incompetent fool that could only ever succeed by stealing from others and taking their fame. Then there was professor Quirell, who happened to have you-know-who as a head ornament. And before that, professor Reslet, who was really awful, and last year, professor Moody, who turned out to be a Death Eater at large, trying and succeeding in bringing back the-one-who-must-not-be-named….. Doesn't anyone check the staff around here?"

"Three fools, one Death Eater and one werewolf, quite a score we have had, wouldn't you say?" I spoke, shutting my book with a frustrated sigh. I was too hungry to read, and the bloody Gryffindor fool was late, which never made for a good combination. I looked up again, only to do a double take as I saw Arielle storming our way.

She seemed rather cross, and she stomped her feet as she walked, her hands clenched into tight fists. This couldn't bode for well.

"I hate the blasted frog" ranted she, as soon as she figured that she was within earshot.  
"I hate her awful pink clothes, I hate her sickly sweet smell, I hate the bloody cats she put in the bloody classroom and I hate the sound of her blasted voice!" ranted she, practically throwing herself on the ground beside me, making me move slightly away from her in obvious distaste.

"Oh do calm down Arielle " I spoke, pulling the end of my robe away from her, so that she wouldn't wrinkle it in her vivid display of outrage towards the toad. "It will get better as the practical part of the course starts." I spoke, turning slightly so that I was turned towards her.

"Yeah? Well , there won't be a practical part of that blasted course!" spoke she, and I noticed a note of self-satisfaction and smugness to her voice.

I rolled my eyes at her "Very funny."

"I'm not kidding" spoke she, her face turning grim. " There. Won't. Be. A. Practical. Part. To . The. Course."

"No practical?" I repeated, my eyes narrowing at the prospect "Has darling Cornelius lost the little shred of sanity he still had? How in the name of Merlin are you supposed to pass your NEWTS, let alone fight in the war, or have any chance of surviving it?"

"That's Fudge for you" spoke Melody. "He's paranoid." I noticed that both she and Clo seemed worried at the prospect.

"Well…" spoke Clo after a while "we could always have you teach us Linds."

I raised my eyebrow at that and she nodded with a smile "Yeah, you're the best, I'm sure you could teach us much better than Umbridge could."

"Have you ever been taught by Linds?" asked Arielle beside me, and both of the girls shook their heads. "Well, let me tell you, she is brutal."

I rolled my eyes at that, but made no move to deny her allegations.

"Let's go" I spoke, standing up. "I'm hungry". I picked up my bag and walked away, closely followed by Clo and Mells, and Arielle, who ran to catch up with us. If they wanted to be taught, that was alright with me, but they should listen to Arielle. I would show no mercy, for neither would the Dark Lord.

* * *

Although my intention was to talk to Daphne on the first day back, I found that I had greatly underestimated the amount of schoolwork a sixth year student would have. And so, the first chance I had gotten to speak to my younger cousin, had appeared on the Friday afternoon, and completely by chance.

I had been returning from my Divination class on west wing of the castle, the one turned to the setting sun, and happened to stumble upon Daphne who was returning from her astronomy lesson.

"Hello Daphne" I called, somewhat unwisely as I was walking a couple of steps beside her in a darkened hallway.

She jumped slightly at my call, spinning about, her eyes wide and her wand drawn.

I arched my eyebrow at her raised wand, but she sighed in relief and lowered it the moment she recognized me.

"Oh, it's you Linda. You scared me." Smiled she, tucking away her wand.

"Keep your wand out" I requested, falling into step alongside her. "There are vicious people in this castle, and I find it funny indeed that most do not belong to our house."

"Yes… there are many who would wish to hex us while hidden in the shadows." She spoke, and contrary to her words, kept her wand hidden.

"And you find it logical to put away your wand?" I asked, trying, and failing miserably to sound levelled, and not rude as I usually tend to.

Daphne didn't mind, however, and she just smiled at me as if the answer was obvious. As I just stared back, she seemed to understand that I was still waiting for an answer.

"Of course. I can hardly think of one person foolish enough to try and hex you." Spoke she, grinning at me. I smirked in return, but my smirk was quick to disappear as she continued "Although…"

"What?" I demanded, already guessing the direction this conversation was taking, and having no desire to continue it.

"Well, Blaise never did have much of the fear people usually experience when facing you."

"I do not wish to talk about him" I spoke, cutting her off, admittedly in a rather rude manner. It was just that I did not wish to talk about the boy, the story concerning him being finished on my part.

"But he..:" started she and I gave her a warning look, effectively silencing her. I had heard rumours about his behaviour, and I could not find a reason for Daphne to think that I cared in any degree about how many girls he had slept with from Monday.

"Alright" sighed she in turn, "You said you wanted to talk to me , I assume it's not something good."

"It's not bad…. At the very least not yet" I spoke, narrowing my eyes as I stared straight ahead.

"You're scaring me Linda" spoke Daphne to my side and I glanced up at her, and then continued my walk, my eyes set firmly on the far wall of the hallway.

"Has it come to your attention that Tori fancies young Malfoy heir?" I asked and Daphne stopped in her tracks.

I turned to her, only to see a look of pure shock on her face. "I take it the answer is no. Don't worry, she'll tell you in a month or so, just pretend you didn't know so far."

"Has she told you?" managed Daphne, and I detected a small hint of jealousy to her voice.

"No" I replied, wishing to dismiss her worries. "I noticed it on my own. It worries me Daphne."

She nodded absently and I could tell that she was focused on the newfound problem.

"But…" spoke Daphne, trying to grasp the situation "she's a third year. I hardly think that he would notice her."

"True" I agreed, "But Tori will grow to be beautiful, and it is simply a matter of time before he does notice her."

Daphne frowned at my answer but I let her come to terms with my words in silence.

"You must understand Daphne," I spoke coming to a halt before the turn that would lead us to the moving stairway "Draco Malfoy is dangerous. He believes in a pureblood supremacy, something that cannot last in this society. He will fall inevitably, and I will not see Tori being pulled down with him."

"So, what do we do?" she asked, and I could see that she had understood the danger her sister had found herself in.

"We cannot make her dislike him, that would be unwise." I spoke, continuing my walk "What we can do, is stop this fancy from growing into something more."

"And how do we do that?" asked Daphne, falling into step beside me.

"I don't know yet." I sighed, reluctant to continue. But as she stared at me, I finished my thought. "I don't really understand a lot about this "love" concept. But I will think about it, do some research. I suggest you do the same. We must save Tori, at all costs."

"There is a chance she will grow out of it" spoke Daphne to the side, and I glanced at her. "I mean, if it's just a fancy. Sometimes that happens. "

"I hope so." I agreed, hopping that my cousin would truly grow out of it.

And yet, as I thought about it, a pressure built up in my chest. A foreboding feeling, carrying forth the wind of misfortune. Somehow, in the back of my mind, in the deepest crypt of my heart, I knew that she would not grow out of it, that this fancy could not be stopped, by any means known to me. I could fight hexes I could cast curses. I could insult and wound and maim, and I could do everything and anything to save my family. Protect them from anything. But not from this. And it kept me awake for many nights to come, that and so much more. For, no matter if Cornelius admitted it or not, a dark shadow slowly crawled towards us. Soon, we would face war, and I knew, we would all face the one thing I simply could not fight of. Death.

* * *

"Alright" I spoke, observing the three girls before me, their wands drawn. "Who wants to go first?"

Clo seemed nervous at the prospect of fighting me, but she held my gaze as I observed her. Melody looked away as our eyes met, clearly wishing to be the last one to go. And Arielle, the last one in the line was smirking at me, clearly not intimidated.

"I'll have a go" she said, stepping forward boldly.

"I was hoping you would " I responded with a smirk of my own. "These are the rules. We duel until one of us has lost her wand, or one of us is unable to continue. I will only use mild curses, while you lot have no limitation, do as you please. Is that alright?"

"More than alright!" exclaimed Arielle, walking to the side and raising her wand.

I walked in parallel, raising my wand as well.  
We stood like that for a second or two, regarding each other.

"_Stupefy!"_, exclaimed she and I raised my wand, waving it slightly and casting a silent Protego.

"More power." I responded and Arielle smirked at me exclaiming "_Petrificus Totalus!"._

One more wave and the spell was intercepted. "Use more spells."

"_Petrificus Totalus! Affligo! Furnunculus!"_ called she moving to the side and I smirked in return , satisfied that she moved from her spot, running to the side and casting.

I ducked the first spell, and cast two successive Protego charms, intercepting hers.

"Better" I commented "Now defence! _Stupefy!"_ Arielle's eyes widened as she saw the spell hurtling towards her through the air, much quicker than her own were, and seemingly much more potent and she made a split second decision, diving for the ground.

The spell missed her by an inch, hitting a tree behind her.

"Get up!" I commanded, noticing that she cut her palm on a stone as she dove for the ground.

As she got up to her feet I cast another set of spells her way "_Anakatus! Claudicus! Expelliarmus!"_

She managed to cast a quick Protego which disappeared as it encountered my first spell. She ran to the side, dodging my spells.  
"You have to attack as you are running" I spoke, but made no move to run myself. "_Confundo! Exposco!"_

She cast another quick Protego, her red hair flying around her as she ran, a smile on her face, as if she was enjoying this, despite her obvious disadvantage.

As she jumped to the side to avoid my last hex her foot caught onto a tree root in the ground, sending her tumbling to the ground. As she fell, she lost her grip on her wand, which flew from her hand, landing a couple of steps away from her.

I lowered my wand, walking up to her and offering her my hand.

"You need to mind your surroundings, use them to your advantage. Also, think before you cast a spell. Create a strategy, and don't always rely on your instinct. Doing that, despite your good instinct, will get you killed in a proper duel." I spoke as she took my hand, using it to pull herself up on her feet again. She grinned at me huffing to get a strand of her hair from her face.

"That was brilliant!" exclaimed she, clearly unfazed by the amount of bruises she had acquired. "Can I have another go?"

"No." I responded, turning to my sister who grew pale. "This is just a test duel , intended for me, so I can ascertain your weaknesses and your advantages, and so I can decided how to help you develop. Now, one of them has to duel me."

I turned to the two girls standing to the side and raised my eyebrow. "Who wants to go next?"

I could see that neither of them was particularly fond of the idea, and just as Clo made a step forward, Mells caught her hand gently, stepping in front of her.

"I'll go" she said, somehow managing a small smile.

"Are you sure?" I asked and she smiled nervously.

"Yeah…" she said, raising her wand.

I nodded in acceptance and walked to stand in front of her while Ari moved past me, walking up to the same tree that had suffered from my hex minutes before, falling down next to it and breathing heavily, still grinning like a complete maniac.

"The same rules apply. Give it your best shot." I spoke, raising my wand, waiting for her to make the first move.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ called she, and I intercepted her spell with a shield, frowning as I felt that my shield was still in its place.

"Intent sister" I spoke. "You have to want to hurt me."

She frowned at that, biting on her lip.

"_Exposco!"_ called she again, her voice very low in volume.

I decided that she needed more encouragement, and as soon as I cast a Protego, I called "_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Protego Totalum!"_ called she and to my immense amazement, her shield withstood my spell, glimmering in front of her.

"_Stupefy!"_ I called, putting slightly more force in my spell and as it hit her shield, it shook violently but still held.

I stared at her for a second before I stepped forward, assuming a proper stance, this time deciding to try her shield with a proper spell.

My wand slashed the air as I quickly exclaimed "_Petrificus Totalus!"_

My sister seemed to be frozen in her place as the spell flew through the air, hurtling towards her, and she seemed to snap out of her shock a second before it would have been too late, jumping to the side with surprising agility.

"_Exposco! Gelesco! Stupefy!"_ I called, forcing her to run. She jumped to the side to avoid the first spell, and waved her wand in a movement that seemed more of a spasm than a voluntary movement, but even so managed to create a shield that stopped the second spell. That was very impressive, but falling to the ground to avoid my third spell was not.

I walked forward and her eyes widened as she saw me, instinctively raising her wand in self-defence and exclaiming "_Harrundo!"_

Reeds shot out of the water, headed straight towards me and I narrowed my eyes at them exclaiming "_Diffindo! Incendio!"_ Some of the reeds were cut in half, while others burnt above water level. I then turned towards her as I heard her call "_Expelliarmus!"_ again, responding with "_Impedimenta!"_

I forgot to mind my power, and the amount of magic that I allowed myself to use easily cut through the spell my sister cast, hitting her and knocking her to the ground as she was trying to get up, simultaneously knocking her wand away from her hand.

I approached her as well, waving my wand and ending the spell I had cast beforehand, offering her my hand as I reached her.

She took it with a smile, slowly getting up.

"You need to work on your offence. I know you don't want to , but you will have to hurt people if you duel with them. Intent Melody, you have to mean it. I'm sorry but you have to mean it. But…. " I spoke narrowing my eyes at her slightly. "Arielle is very good at attacking, and lacks defensive skills. You, have more than you could imagine. The defence spells you cast were very good."

She beamed at me, although I could see that she was tired out. "No. I take it back" I spoke, smirking at her "they were brilliant, well done."

I took a deep breath, straightening my robe as I walked to stand in front of Clo.

"You ready?" I asked, raising my wand in front of myself.

"No." smiled she and immediately continued "_Stupefy!"_

I smirked, responding "_Protego!"_

The spell had some power but she still lacked the aspect that won you a duel. Intent.

"The same as Melody, Clo. Harm me." I called and she narrowed her eyes at me, her gaze turning distant, calculating.

It was taking too long, even though it was only a couple of seconds, but those seconds precisely would have killed her were it not the case that she was duelling me, but a death eater without a shred of mercy.  
"_Impedimenta!_" I called and she blinked before slashing the air with her wand, in a move that was book-perfect and calling "_Protego Totalum!"_

She gripped her wand tight as her shield encountered my spell, and to my surprise, another shield was able to withstand my spell. I didn't expect for the two of them to be so skilled in defensive spells.

"_Stupefy! Exposco! Gelesco!" _I called and she stepped back, summoning shield after shield but still standing in the same area. If she would just move, she could fight properly.

That's why I narrowed my eyes at her, and shot a proper hex at her feet. She was forced to move, as I verbalised the incantation, letting her know that I was not holding back anymore.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, jumping to the side as yet another hex was a narrow miss.

"Hexing you, move!" I spoke, again aiming at her.

"But you promised that you would hold back! That you would use mild hexes!" called she, panicking and diving to her right.

"Told ya she is brutal!" called Arielle from the side, but I ignored her as I could see that Clo was still by far too slow.

"Rule one: I lie. Move! Move! Move!" I called, my voice levelled, moving my wand with ease, almost lazily.

"Yes! But this is insane!" exclaimed she ducking as I suddenly aimed at her head.

"Do you want to stay alive?" I called, casting another hex "Then dodge! This may very well save your life!"

As I was about to cast another hex, which Clo wouldn't have been able to dodge, I noticed something pink from the far end of the path, just exiting the castle. I found myself grateful for my farsightedness.

"Merlin's beard!" I swore turning to my friends, aiming my wand at Arielle "Bloody meddling frog is coming this way! _Ennervate! Episkey!" _

Arielle lost the redness to her cheeks, and her breathing steadied, while the cut on her hand healed.

"Take a book! Pretend to be reading!" I told her as I walked to join them, Clo barely walking in front of me. "_Ennervate!"_ I spoke, aiming at both Melody and Clo in turn, then joining them and taking a book with my reading glasses just as the frog walked close enough so she could see us.

It was a rather good clean-up, even in my own humble opinion, but I knew that I could not fool someone as snide as Dolores Umbridge. I simply did not have the time to prepare. However, dear Dolores had no leg to stand on, and she knew it.

"Miss Hayes" she called, smiling sweetly down at us. "Your mother sent you a letter. I thought it would be best if I brought it here personally."

My eyes narrowed at the obnoxious woman and I clenched my palms into fists, trying to keep my anger under control. She was going through our mail, the blasted toad. She had no right, and if I found that she touched a single letter of mine, minister or no minister, I would blast that sickly sweet smile off her wretched face.

Arielle also worried me, and I hopped that she had enough self-control to remain sitting without acting out. Thankfully, she was in control, and I sighed in relief silently as she got up, thanking the frog for her troubles.

With one last smile, she turned around, trotting up the path to the castle. We waited for a second or two after she was gone, before jumping to our feet and surrounding Arielle.

"What was that?" asked my sister, looking after the toad.

"She read her mail" responded Clo, her eyes set on the letter. "Be careful Ari, she might have placed some charm on it to be able to read it in case it only makes sense when you hold it or something…"

That was a very good idea in my opinion. Arielle seemed to think so as well as she pointed her wand at the letter muttering "_Hexia Revelio! Incantatum Revelio!"_ . Nothing happened and after one unsure glance at me, Arielle opened her letter gingerly, as if expecting for it to explode at the slightest movement.

"I hope my mother wrote in riddles. I swear I'll put something in her drink… oh when I get my hands on her" ranted she, skimming through the letter.

"Don't worry, your mum is smart-" spoke Clo, a small smug smile on her face "She was a Ravenclaw after all."

"Yeah yeah" spoke Arielle, waving Clo's comment away, her brow furrowing as she read. "Hey, listen to this:" called Arielle, and we all turned to her to listen to the content of the letter being read out for us :" Dear Arielle. I noticed that your old trunk doesn't have any more room, so I sent you a new one. It has a few more compartments than your old one, I hope you will like it. Love, Mum. P.S. I hope you still have the amulet I gave you for your last birthday."

"She sent this message intentionally riddled" spoke Arielle frowning at the letter.

I rolled my eyes at her as Clo responded "And it seems to me that the old amulet you are wearing is the key"

"Your mum is really clever" spoke Melody, reading the letter again "the old frog can't do anything about it."

Arielle just stood there for a second or two more before gathering her stuff, taking the letter from Melody and leaving without a word.

"Did we upset her?" asked Melody, looking after Arielle's fast leaving back.

"Leave her; she'll come see us when she's ready." I spoke, knowing full well what sorts of nightmares haunted my friend. So very similar to my own.

"She never talks about it" spoke my sister , and I knew she would do anything she could for her friend "We could help."

"She's too proud for that" concluded Clo, sighing as she thought about it.

"No, that's not pride" I spoke, knowing full well what that was. Fear. "She is not doing this because she is prideful, or brave or mistrusts us. No, I'd say that this has something to do with fear."

The pair of them turned to me , gaping. But the more they thought about it the more they realized that I was right. As brave as she may be, Arielle was human. And we all have our demons, it's just a matter of living with them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Of inheritance and power

"If you glance at the doors one more time Melody" I spoke, my eyes focused on the chicken that I was currently cutting, "I will hex you."

"I don't know Linds, I just feel like she needs us, and we aren't there for her." Responded my sister and I looked up, only to see that she was, in fact and despite every warning she was given, looking back to the doors of the entrance of the Great Hall. I glanced to my right, only to see that Clo was also staring at the doors, but she, unlike my sister, was eating.

"Eat Melody" I commanded, taking a bite out of my chicken. "And don't talk nonsense."

"That's not nonsense!" exclaimed Melody, making more than a couple of Hufflepuff heads turn. We were now guests at their table, something that I greatly disliked, and the nervous badgers were glancing at their Golden Girl, worried that her evil sister would start hexing everyone on sight. Idiots.

"Yes, yes it is." I replied, rolling my eyes at her.

"Well, she has only been gone for an hour or so." Responded Clo, glancing towards the doors again. "I say we give her a little bit more time, and if she's not here by dinner time, we go and look for her."

"Brilliant, let's do that" I spoke, getting up and picking up my bag. "I'm off to my common room, I need to write my Potions essay. I'll see you lot for dinner."

I took out my wand and waved it, making the plate in front of my sister hit her arm and as she yelped looking up at me for explanation I spoke :"It won't stop hitting you until you finish your meal. And don't even try to leave, I've charmed it to follow you about. So, the way I see it, you either finish your meal here, or have the plate follow you about the castle for the rest of the day. Your choice."

"Don't baby me Linds" called she after me.

"Then stop acting as a child and eat your lunch!" I called back, smirking to myself. She would eat it, and it made no difference to me whether she wanted to eat or not. She had to. And Arielle would have a lot to make up for when she got back, especially for worrying the two stupid girls at the Hufflepuff table. And then, I'd give her hell for making me listen to their whining.

I stood in front of the wall that hid the entrance to my common room, and just as I was about to say the password, the wall slid open on its own accord. I heard giggling on the other side, and a distinctly male voice. It was very familiar to me, and as the wall slid open completely, I understood why.

In front of me stood Blaise Zabini, his hand rather low on the back of none other than Rebecca Blishwick. I guess she got a reward for the favour.

Her smile disappeared from her face as she saw me, and I noticed that she pulled closer to Zabini, standing so that he partly hid her from my view.

He was another case altogether.

His eyes turned angry as he saw me and I could see that his fingers twitched. He slowly raised his hand to his coat pocket, taking out his wand and raising it slightly. I had my wand out as well, and the silence that ensued between us was deafening.

"Going for revenge Zabini?" I sneered at him, raising my wand so that it stood at level with his and tipping it downwards, in my usual duelling stance, the one I used when I was serious. Because idiot or not, Blaise Zabini was a good wizard, and a skilled duller. I would not do myself any favours by underestimating him or his duelling skills.

He just narrowed his eyes at me and I raised my eyebrow at him, choosing not to hex first.  
"No." spoke he finally, "why should I bother? "

"As if you could win." I sneered back, "Or are you trying to defend your little girlfriend here?" As I mentioned her, my wand moved to Rebecca and I could see that she shivered in fright.

"She's not my girlfriend." Responded he, and she turned to gape at him in shock.

"Entertainment then." I concluded, turning to Rebecca. "I'd run from him if I were you, he'll just use you and then, when he gets bored, move on to the next naïve girl that walks past him in a skirt hitched just a little bit too high."

"We all have our fun" spoke he, a cold sneer crawling up his face.

"Indeed. And Rebecca dear is rather lucky, I could have used her for fun as well. You do remember how I have fun don't you? " I spoke, glancing down at his lip that was cut open a couple of days prior.

He didn't respond at that and I stepped past him, entering the hallway that led to the common room.

"Is what she said true?" I heard Rebecca's voice ask. I had assumed that he would lie, but like in so many other aspects, it seemed that I was wrong about Zabini.

"Yes" was the last word spoken before the doors shut closed behind me.

* * *

"Is she still not back?" I asked, sitting down at the Ravenclaw table next to Clo.

"No…." responded she, biting down on her lip in her nervousness.

"Don't worry" I spoke, taking a plate of beef in gravy and putting some on my plate "she'll be here."

"And what if she's not?" whispered my sister "you saw her! What if it's something serious, what if something serious happened to her? What do we do then?"

"I'm sure it's nothing Mells" spoke Clo, taking her hand and squeezing it in a sign of comfort. "We would have known if it were something bad."

"I just hate waiting for news…" spoke my sister, squeezing back Clo's hand.

"Oh, don't whine " I snapped at them "the idiot is fine. But she won't be for long when I get a hold of her. I swear, I'll strangle her with my bare hands. On second thought, I'll hex the life out of her, and then I'll bring her back so I can strangle her to death again."

"There she is!" exclaimed my sister and I turned to glare at Arielle who was approaching us with a wide grin on her face.

"Where were you?" asked my sister as soon as the blasted Gryffindor was in the earshot. "We were so worried."

"_They_ were so worried" I corrected irritably.

"Sorry" smiled Arielle at us, that stupid grin showing off all her teeth.

"Sorry doesn't cut it you idiot!" I hissed at her " I had to listen to these two whine about your unfortunate demise that had surely taken place. So forgive me, but a _sorry _does not even begin to justify you, you dimwit!"

"I'm fine girls, don't worry!" laughed she "I was just a bit preoccupied. "

She leaned across the table and hugged my sister, and I noticed from the corner of my eyes that her amulet glowed a radiant yellow.

Arielle let go of my sister, grinning at her like a maniac.

"What's wrong with your locket?" asked Clo, and as she reached for it, it glowed a dark blue colour.

"Don't touch it!" I snapped swatting her hand away and as my skin brushed across the medallion it glowed a bright emerald colour.

"It's magical" I spoke, eyeing it warily. "But the trouble is, it wasn't magical a day ago. So what changed , what did you do?"

The last question was directed at Arielle who grinned at me.

"You're wrong" laughed she enjoying this as it seemed "It was always magical, it just woke up now. "

"Five hours ago," I spoke, narrowing my eyes at her "to be precise. Arielle, I'm not joking, what did you do? If this is one of your stupid tricks..:"

"I didn't do anything" laughed she again, "that's the beauty of it! I had nothing to do with it!"

"What is it?" asked my sister, lost in our little conversation "What happened?"

"We're going on an adventure my friends" smirked she, thinking she was mysterious. Idiot. She knew damn well I hated mysteries.

"The only place I'm going is my dorm room, to sleep this day away " I spoke, standing up.

"No." exclaimed she, grabbing a hold of my hand. "You'll want to hear this."

"Then talk." I spoke, glancing down at her hand on my own and having her let go immediately.

"Not here, come one girls" responded she, getting up and leaving without even turning back once to see whether or not we were following.

"Where are we going?" asked Clo, running to catch up to the prat.

"Someplace private" grinned the idiot back and I rolled my eyes, especially as she headed to the entrance to the castle.

"Not there you moron" I spoke, walking past them and heading to the dungeons. I heard footsteps echo across the halls and I was sure that they were following me. I walked past the potions classroom, Snape's office, the entrance to my common room, an empty classroom, turned left and walked through a narrow hallway, ducked slightly on a hidden nook in the wall calling out "Watch out for the nook" and hearing a soft thud, accompanied by a yelp from Arielle, who was by far too tall for the corridor.

I took another sharp left and noticed that the light was very dim in this part of the castle, despite the torches set alight in the hallway and I took out my wand muttering "_Lumos!"_

I heard my friends call out the same and I stepped forward confidently, having walked through this part of the castle many a time on my own.

"Watch out for the third step from the top, there is none" I spoke, descending the stairs, mindful of the aforementioned trap.

After another sharp right, we emerged in a rather well-lit hallway, with doors on the left. I counted five before entering the sixth and extinguishing the light from my wand with a muttered "_Nox!"_

We found ourselves in a small, oval office, illuminated by the glow of a fire with bright purple flames licking the stone fireplace.

It was decorated with three chairs, a desk, and a master chair to which I promptly walked up and sat down upon, motioning for the three girls before me to do the same.

"_Colloportus!"_ I spoke, aiming my wand at the doors, "_Muffliato! Cave inimicum!" _

I observed the doors for a second or two more, before deciding that it was safe to talk now.

"Alright, now, you can talk." I spoke, narrowing my eyes at Arielle who was walking about the room, taking this or that book from this or that dusty old shelf.

"Wow, this is really , really old." Spoke she, gently tracing the binding of some old potions book. "What is this place?"

"It's the old office of the Potion Master of Hogwarts, it hasn't been used in decades… hence the old books." I spoke, motioning to them with my hand. "It seems to me that he left in a hurry, and never came back for his belongings. Nor is it likely that he will be returning."

"Can I borrow this?" she asked, not looking back and gently lifting a book in the air.

"You can take it for all I care" I spoke, rolling my eyes at her.

"No, she can't " exclaimed my sister, ever the goody two-shoes. "They don't belong to you."

"They don't belong to anyone sister dear, the old man is dead." I muttered and received a glare from her in response.

"Akhm" spoke Clo to the side and I turned to her, only to see that she was staring pointedly on the amulet on Arielle's neck. Oh right, the magic locket that shines. Perfect. "We came here to talk about the locket, remember?"

"Oh right, " grinned Arielle, "sorry."

"So, what is this magical rainbow locket that you're wearing?" I asked, eyeing it warily.

"Always so eloquent "laughed Arielle, but as her fingers reached up for her locket, she turned serious.

"You're not going to believe me, hell, I don't know if I believe me either" spoke she, glancing at each of us warily.

"Oh just spit it out!" I snapped, annoyed at her mysteriousness.

"This pendant recognizes soul heirs." Spoke she, looking down at us as she wouldn't sit down like a normal person would. I did a double take as I looked up, trying to see whether she was joking or not.

"Come on Arielle," smiled my sister, obviously thinking that the idiot was pulling another stunt. The trouble was, she was deadly serious. "What does it really do?"

My sister got no answer, and she glanced about the room, expecting for someone to tell her what exactly was going on. Clo looked confused and I took a second to realize that she wouldn't know what a soul heir is.

"I'm not joking, this really recognises soul heirs" spoke Arielle, for once deadly serious.

"But that's just a legend!" exclaimed my sister, obviously very mad at the prospect of being mocked so mercilessly.

"You know what grandma always says… every legend has to start somewhere" I spoke, looking away from them, and into the wall. If this was true, and if I really was a soul heir, I would be able to acquire power beyond what I dreamed possible. I could kill Bella, I could even kill the Dark Lord himself.

"What legend?" demanded Clo, seemingly really frustrated at the fact that she was the only one that did not know what we were talking about. A rather unusual situation to be found.

"It's one of those old stories that every wizarding child that has at least one magical parent knows. We all grew up on them…. The Tale of the Three Brothers, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, Babbity Rabbity and her cackling stump…. And of course The Heritage of The Four." I responded, closing my eyes and placing my fingers on my temples. This prospect needed serious contemplation. If one of them was true… if only a part of that story was true…. This had to remain secret. It was imperative.

"But what is the legend?" demanded Clo, obviously upset that she was still kept in the dark.

I looked up to Arielle, who finally sat down and I addressed her "I assume that we are not familiar with the full story, or at least not the original version?"

"No." responded she, shaking her head for emphasis, "the story you know is just for the public, there is a much older, much more…. Serious version passed down in the family of the guardians ."

"And I suppose that would be your mother's family?" I asked, and she nodded in confirmation. "Let's have it then… " I spoke, "narrate away."

"Aren't we bossy?" asked she, with a smirk.

"Aren't we all important?" I responded, smirking as well.

"Akhm" coughed Clo," Arielle, the story if you please."

"Oh sorry" grinned she and I had a distinct urge to smack her. "Well… here goes. A long time ago, so long ago that the memory of that time has become a legend in itself, in a time when the four founders were still alive, a great evil roamed the land. Each of the four founders sought out the evil , sought out the wizard so cruel that his memory is only a whisper in the darkest of minds, and each failed to rid the earth of his cruelty. As powerful as they were, the four founders no longer stood united, and so … each of them lost. And yet, each of them knew that they cannot win anymore, that the unity that had created their most famous achievement, the great castle of stone, was gone. The wisest of them, Ravenclaw sat and thought for six days and nights, and on the sixth night a thought came to her mind. If they no longer had unity, the unity had to be inherited by their children. They were the future, and the only ones capable of ridding the world of the horrible, vile, twisted man. The four founders had children, you see, children unburdened by the prejudice of their parents. Through that unity, they inherited power, the same power that had created the castle. And so, the four children gathered and together they embarked on the most noble of quests. And won. The wizard was defeated… dead. But alas, the unity would not last. The children grew up. And they fell out, losing their power. The first to go was the child of Ravenclaw, disappointing her mother so that she never spoke of her again. Rowena swore that her legacy, the legacy of power would be given only to a worthy child of the Ravenclaw house, of wizard birth or not. Slytherin swore that his heir would only be one of his own blood, and Gryffindor, in mockery of that decision, swore that only one brave enough to face the blood of a snake could earn his heritage. The fourth founder, kindest of them all, was not worried about power or blood or wit. She only wished for one thing in her heir, kindness, to all. Only that who is capable of showing kindness to his enemy can inherit the power of Helga Hufflepuff. And so , the heritage was passed on, awoken in every time of need of the wizarding word. The heirs were born in every generation, and shall be, for as long as the wizarding world remembers the power of four."

We all stayed silent for a while and I closed my eyes firmly, trying to think about this rationally.

"So… we're soul heirs?" asked Clo, her voice carrying the doubt all three of us felt.

"Yeah…" responded Arielle, and I opened my eyes to see that she gave us an uncomfortable crooked grin: I could never understand why she forced herself to smile when smiling was the farthest thing from her heart.

"This story is nice, but it's just a story!" exclaimed my sister, and I could see that she was on the verge of tears. And I stood up, walking to her chair and sitting on the arm of her chair. I placed, my arm around her shoulders in a rare sign of comfort and she hugged my side.

"It's not…. I don't think it is." I spoke, eyeing Arielle.

"What do we do now?" asked Clo, looking expectantly at Arielle.

"Well.." spoke she, glancing at me "my mother sent us a trunk. It's magical, sort of like a hidden training grounds. The only trouble is… we can't get in."

"Why not?" I asked, and I noticed that my sister clutched a fistful of my robes.

"Because it's locked, and I don't know how to open it." Responded she.

"Hmmm." Hummed Clo, "I'll try the library, do some research, although I'm still not sure that I believe this entire ordeal"

"Yeah…. I figured you might be a bit sceptical. But once we get in the trunk we'll know more." Responded Arielle, scratching her hand, something she did when she was nervous.

"Don't worry Ari" spoke Clo, giving her a small smile "we'll figure this out". She then got up, heading for the doors and disappearing behind them.

We stayed silent for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

"She doesn't know yet right?" asked my sister and I stood up abruptly, moving to stand in front of the fireplace.

"NO. And she doesn't have to know. At the very least not yet. The three of us can carry this burden on our own. There is no need for her to suffer as well." I responded, clenching my hand into fists.

"I can't help thinking…. If we had known back then…." Spoke my sister and I could hear the tears in her voice.

"We did all we could Mells" spoke Arielle "What happened couldn't have been prevented."

"But that's just it. We don't know what happened, we don't know anything at all about that night." Spoke my sister.  
"I know enough. And Bella dear is going to pay." I spoke, barely containing my anger. Some time more was spent in silence before I heard the scraping of chairs and my sister left.

"You worry her you know" spoke Arielle.  
"I know" I responded. "But she has nothing to worry about. I won't die. Bella dear will suffer and she will burn, but I won't let her harm my family again."

"Be careful Linds." Warned Arielle "Don't let your hate blind you. Don't make revenge be your motivation. It's very dangerous."

"I can handle it Arielle. I always have been able to handle it."

At that time, I truly believed that revenge would help, that it would save us, that it would end this suffering. I was wrong.

* * *

The next two days were long and tedious for me. My mind kept wandering to the legend, and between my schoolwork, my social engagements and research that I had to do to help get us into the blasted trunk, I had hardly any free time to sit down and do what I loved most. Sit down on my sofa near the fireplace and read a good book or two.

I finally found some time to do so on Tuesday evening, and just as the common room mostly emptied, and I was just beginning to immerse myself into the book I was currently reading, I noticed two short figures approaching me from the corner of my eyes. I glanced up shortly , only to see that they were my younger cousin and another boy, with very light skin and moss green eyes. Henry Meliflua, I concluded.

I glanced downwards again, waiting for them to approach me and therefore feel like they have the upper hand. I was curious, however, as to what the Meliflua boy could want from me. He was always rather silent in my presence and I knew that he belonged to the branch of my house that wished to see me overthrown from my position of power in the house.

He was not as subtle as he should have been about it as well, because I was aware of his affiliations from the very moment he had made them. I had eyes and ears everywhere in this house, it was a rather simple matter to find out.

"Hello Linda "greeted Tori and I smiled , still not looking up from my book. She was careful, which could only mean trouble.

"Hello Tori, Mister Meliflua" I responded, fighting back a smirk as the boy flinched as I addressed him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We have a problem" spoke my cousin and I allowed the smirk to appear on my face again, growing, only to be swept away by her next words "One we cannot go to Professor Snape about."

I glanced up at this, quickly searching Tori for any signs of trouble. She seemed fine, and as I turned to the boy my eyes immediately focused on his hand. It was red, with what appeared to be blood.

"Show me your hand Mister Meliflua" I asked, holding my hand out in invitation.

He seemed rather worried as to what I might do, and he glanced nervously to Tori, making me realize that she was the one to initiate this meeting, most likely forcing the boy to come and see me.

"Your hand Henry" I called and he reluctantly stepped closer to me, stretching his hand out for me to take.

I took it gently, and he flinched as my fingers, which were most likely cold, traced the wound.

"Who did this to you Henry?" I asked still observing the wound.

He stayed silent, and I looked up, only to see him look away.

"It wasn't a member of the student body, because you could talk to professor Snape about it, so… it must have been one of the staff. I don't think any of our current professor would use such dark methods, or even know of their existence, because, this wound must have been caused by a blood-replenishing quill. Therefore… only one person could have done this. Dolores Umbridge." I spoke, and he glanced down at me, his eyes filled with terror, confirming my suspicions.

"I will help you Henry, under one condition. This conversation never leaves this room. What happened just now, and what will happen does not leave this room. If one of your friends needs help of this sort, or any other, you are to do for him as Tori did for you, you bring him to me. But you are never to tell another soul about what happened here." I warned.

He nodded in acceptance and I stood up, putting away my book with a great amount of regret. It seemed I would have no peace this evening.

"You will wait for me here, along with Tori." I spoke, assuming what Arielle called my "bossy tone". "When I get back, I assure you, Dolores will never think of punishing you in this manner again. Or any other Slytherin for that matter."

"Can you do that?" asked he, speaking for the first time that evening. "Do you really have that much power?"

I smirked down at him "I have power and influence beyond your wildest dreams Henry, now give me your hand."

He did as he was told, albeit he flinched a little as he saw that I had drawn my wand "_Episkey!"_ I called and the wound healed for a moment, before reopening in another moment.

"Oh for the love of Merlin!" I hissed, glaring at the wound. He made to pull his hand away from me but I gripped it, giving him a warning glance.

It seemed that dearest Dolores spared no expense on her quills, these seemed to be of top quality.

"_Vulnera Sanentur!" _I called and the blood of the wound disappeared, "_Vulnera Sanentur!"_ I called again, and the wound healed, leaving only a pink scar in its wake. "_Vulnera Sanentur!"_ I spoke for the final time, and the pink scar disappeared.

I released his hand, and the boy held it up to his eyes, examining it in wonder.

"Wait for me" I spoke, and turned, leaving for the doors. I was not aware then that another person occupied the room, and I would not be aware for a very long time, that this small act of mercy changed the course of my entire life.

* * *

My footsteps echoed across the stone hallway of the fifth floor, as I made my way to the office of my dearest professor. I was out after hours and was lucky to have encountered no prefects, or worse, Filch and his blasted cat.

I arrived in front of the doors of her office and took a moment to compose myself, pushing the cruel smile of my features. It would be unwise to scare Dolores from the start, it was in my goal to enter her office, and not have the doors slammed into my face.

I raised my hand and knocked gently on the wood of her doors two times. I heard shuffling from behind the doors and the clatter of heels for a moment or two, until they stopped in front of the doors.

The doors creaked open in the next second, and before me stood Dolores, in all her pink glory. She was wearing something akin to a nightrobe, but I could not, for the life of me ascertain if that were so, since the pink colour was so appalingly bright that I could not stand to look at it for more than one second.

"Miss Kersey?" asked she, giving out a nervous little cough of a smile. "What in the world is the matter? Has something happened?"

"Oh, don't worry Dolores" I spoke ,noting that her eyes widened at my usage of her first name. "The problem I have is quite easily solved." I waited for a second or two before asking "Are you not going to invite me in?"

She smiled again, in a nervous little movement, before responding "Oh, of course, come on in, Rosalind."

I stepped past her, wrinkling my nose at the sickly sweet smell that hit my nostrils as soon as I had entered the office.

"Miss Kersey" I corrected, taking a seat in front of her desk.

"Oh" giggled she "Of course."

"I understand it that you have a problem" smiled she sitting down.

"Yes, Dolores " I smiled, showing off my teeth, in a smile similar to that of my friend. The only difference being that she used that smile to charm and I to intimidate.

"Professor Umbridge" corrected the toad. "I am your professor here after all."

"Oh, but _Dolores_, you and I both know that that title is meaningless in this conversation." I responded. She just smiled in response and I continued "Now, you see, it has come to my attention that you have been using a blood-replenishing quill to punish a member of my house. You can understand how that would upset me can't you?"

"I assure you miss Kersey" started she but I interrupted her, hissing :_"Don't lie to me Dolores!"_

She paled visibly at that and I smiled continuing "Now, I find myself inclined to inform you that, were such a thing to happen again " I spoke, pausing "Were you to harm my housemates, or _any of my friends_, I will be forced to take drastic measures."

I stopped, smiling at her. "You do understand Dolores, don't you? _I will bring you to your knees, I will strip you off your power, your wealth and influence. I will banish you from the magical community._ And you do know that I have enough_ power_ and_ galleons_ to do so? I'm a _Kersey_ after all, _it would be truly unwise to make an enemy out of me._"

The toad turned as pale as a sheet in front of me and as I continued I knew she would never do anything foolish again. At least, not in a way that would make her my enemy.

"And one more piece of advice. If you dare even think about my sister the wrong way, I promise you, I will not stop at bringing you down. _I will bring down your minister, I will bring you both to your knees, and just when I think that you have suffered enough. I will show you terror beyond your wildest dreams._ " I stood up at that, fixing my skirt.

"I thought you should be informed." I spoke, turning to leave. "Have a good night Dolores, I do hope you will take my words into consideration".

I waved my wand, closing the doors behind me, laughing silently to myself. This had felt good indeed. What a foolish woman, to dare anger me.

I had encountered a Slytherin Prefect on my way back, but she let me pass by her, pretending she had not seen me at all.

I walked into the common room confidently and I saw that Tori and Henry jumped to their feet upon seeing me.

"It is done" I spoke, allowing myself to smile slightly "Dolores will never act in such a manner towards you again. Rest assured."

The boy blinked at me, and a small smile appeared on his face: "Thank you."

"You are welcome Henry " I responded, "but, do remember your promise. Not one word of this conversation can ever be repeated."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Of sisters and forgiveness

I was walking back from my Charms class on Wednesday with my sister, as a distinct sense of being watched overwhelmed me.

"Hey Mells" I called, stopping a couple of steps before the turn that led left to my common room. "I forgot my book back in the classroom. I'll see you later alright?"

Melody gave me an odd look, surprised that I would forget something in a classroom, but she nodded none the less, and I turned away from her, making my way back through the castle.

I climbed a set of stairs up to the third floor, and as I turned to the Charms corridor, I pulled out my wand and with another step forward, I spun about on my heel, aiming at a darkened part of the hallway, where a human figure could be made out.

"I know you are there" I spoke, aiming my wand at the figure. "Come out, or I will hex you."

"I know you would " spoke a male voice, and the figure made a couple of steps forward, stepping into the light.

I raised my voice slightly as I recognized the figure.

"Sneaking about in the shadows," I spoke, a sneer twisting my mouth "is this how you plan to get even Zabini?"

"No Rosalind " spoke he, and I noticed that he was for once, completely serious. "I've come to apologize."

"Come again?" I asked, unsure of what had just transpired.

"I found you in order to apologize." Repeated he, raising his hands up, palms facing forward, towards me. "I am really sorry."

"For what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not.

"For having Rebecca spy on you. It won't happen again." Responded he, with a small, apologetic smile.

"Alright…." I spoke, and he grinned at me.

"Good" responded he "I'll see you around Roseycheeks."

I stared after him, uncomprehending, and as he had made a couple of steps away from me I called:

"Zabini!"

He turned around to face me with a grin."Yes, Rosey?"

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Why do people normally apologize Rosey?" responded he, grinning like an absolute fool at me. "I'm sorry for what I did". He turned serious at the last part. "I truly am."

"If you could be serious for a second." I spoke, "And pay attention. I'm not asking you why people in general do this, I'm asking you why _you_ are doing this."

"And I'm not _people_?" asked he, smirking.

"Of course not." I snarled. "You, unlike them, have an endgame. I just can't seem to think of one, because you know that nothing you do could possibly sway me and make me give in to your ridiculous flirtations."

"I do have an endgame" smiled he, turning to leave.

"What is it Zabini?" I demanded, but he only waved at me; saying :"I'd tell you Rosey. I really would. But I don't think that you'd understand."

"What are you implying Zabini?" I demanded at his retreating back, but he only laughed in response "Zabini!" I called, but he didn't respond, and I observed as he disappeared behind a turn in the corridor. If the blasted boy was implying that I was stupid, I would make it seem as if the humiliation he had suffered two weeks ago was nothing but a child's play.

I swore to myself as I turned to head in the opposite direction. The man only started talking to me minutes ago, and I already regretted allowing him to apologize.

* * *

A week came and passed, and we seemed to be making some progress towards finding a way to get into the trunk. Clo had been rather helpful, finding a spell that would enable a non-magical object, a piece of jewelry for example, to retain magical properties, such as opening doors, and teleporting people from one place to another. The only problem that remained was to find charms that would enable us to teleport into a locked trunk from a distance, to make it so that only each of us could use each of the artifacts, and to prevent them from suffering miscellaneous misfortunes, such as being stolen or lost. Once we had that covered, Arielle and I agreed to charm the objects, since we were the best in the subject, and we would be good to go.

The week seemed peaceful, and most things seemed to settle into their usual routine. Classes were mostly tedious and long, meals always so noisy and crowded, my friends always so very…. Sociable, my house always so cold and Zabini always so persistent and annoying. I would not admit it to anyone, but it was good to be back in the same routine.

But the peace, or any resemblance of one, would not last.

It was Wednesday afternoon, and I was standing in front of the Charms classroom, surrounded by a group of snakes.

I had a frown on my face, as I halfheartedly listened to their discussion concerning the colours to be worn in the oncoming winter. Most of my attention, however, was taken up by the noise that surrounded me.

The most of the noise was not, as per usual, coming from the group of chatty Hufflepuffs that we were forced to share a class with, instead it was provided by a member of my own house.

Samuel Mcculiber, son of a known Death Eather, was ranting on and on about blood purity, "mudbloods" , "bloodtraitors", and "cleansing the society of such filth"

This was the kind of talk that could be heard more and more often throughout my house, and I would have paid it no mind, were it not that a bad feeling settled in my chest.

And as he raised his wand, my eyes followed its aim, and as I found his target, I felt rage overpower me.

The boy was too slow, and I stepped forward, my wand in my hand, an incantation on my lips, pronounced with the second step I took.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ I sneered, and the entire student body seemed to freeze alongside Samuel.

I stepped forward, coming to face the boy, whose terrified eyes followed my every movement, and starting to walk around him in a slow, elaborate circle.

"This boy" I spoke, raising my wand, whilst tipping it downwards a bit, "Is a Slytherin." I spoke, knowing that I had the attention of the entire student body. "It is known that I do not attack my own. But I attacked him, because he" I said, stopping in front of him and gently pulling his wand from his dead fingers. "dared use his wand" I continued, raising it slightly for the entire student body to observe "to harm my sister, and just for that, _Furnunculus!"_

The boy's face was covered in blistering boils, and I knew that they were extremely painful for the victim, excruciatingly so if one was as skilled as I was in casting curses.

My sister tried to approach me at that, but stopped as I gave her one warning glance.

"That was a rather foolish thing to do, wouldn't you say? "I asked, addressing no one in particular. "And for that, _Tarantallegra!_"

The boy started dancing uncontrollably, in a sight that would have been hysterical in any other set of circumstances. In this case, no one dared laugh.

I was not afraid of anyone here, and despite the angry, that is to say, furious glances my sister sent my way, I was sure that I was doing the right thing.

"Let this be a warning to all, Melody Kersey is under the protection of the Slytherin Queen. If anyone dares to even think of harming her, I promise you magic worthy of the darkest of wizards."

Silence ensued after that, and I noticed people were moving at the back of the crowd, than in the middle, as if someone was pushing their way through.  
I heard the squeaky sound of professor Flitwick's voice, asking people to move out of his way politely, before he emerged in the front lines of the crowd. He stepped forward, gaping at the frozen boy.

"Who-who did this?" stuttered he and I looked down at him, speaking clearly "I did ,professor."

He then turned to gape at me, unable to believe that I would do something so cruel. He obviously did not realize just how far I would go to protect those I held dear.

"Miss Kersey, I .. I never- Relase the boy!" demanded he and I did so after a second of contemplation. The boils, sadly, were not banishable.

"Detention Miss Kersey, tomorrow night, seven o'clock, with professor McGonagall." Spoke he , and walked off to the classroom with one more disapproving glance my way.

"Yes professor " I responded, following him.

My sister passed me, without sparing me a glance, and I knew that she was cross with me for using so much force in handling the matter, and for stepping in at all. She liked to believe that she could defend herself, and be that as it may, I made a promise. And I would honor it. Nothing bad would happen to her while I was around.

* * *

"Knight to E5" I spoke, observing the board as my knight moved forward, decapitating Daphne's pawn.

She frowned at that, but stayed silent, trying to think of a way to get her queen out of the way of my bishop.

"So…." Started she, and I immediately put up my guard. "You hexed McCuliber today."

"I did" I spoke, still eyeing the board warily.

"Any particular reason?" asked Daphne, adding "Queen to A5"

"I am sure that you are aware of my reasons Daphne, as is the entire house. I am certain that I made myself quite clear concerning that matter." I spoke, thinking in parallel of ways in which I could trap her queen, without posing danger to my own king.

"So it is true he tried to hex Melody?" asked she, her eyes never moving from the playing board. "What a fool."

"I agree." I responded, adding "rook to B1".

"Well, your reputation has been affirmed " spoke she, her voice thoughtful "you are feared amongst us, even in these…. Changing times."

"That is how I wish for things to be." I replied, "I would rather they fear me, and act out of that sentiment, than underestimate me, and what I will do. And you do know that I would kill for my sister don't you?"

"Queen to B3" responded Daphne.

"As I would kill for Tori and you. Bishop to C4." I said, and as she looked up in surprise I added. "Checkmate."

She blinked at that, but smiled none the less. "You know, I honestly thought that maybe, this one time, you'd lose if I got you talking" laughed she.

"Oh Daphne," I smirked in response," you know that I will use any means necessary to achieve my end. On a more serious note though", I spoke and my smirk disappeared. "I will protect you. Just like I do Melody."

"I know" she repeated, and just as she was about to say more, a loud clapping noise from my left interrupted her.  
I looked up, only to see Zabini, clapping and approaching us with a smirk.

"A wonderful game ladies" spoke he, casually taking a seat next to me.  
I could see that Daphne, like her sister, found this matter most amusing.

"It was, until a certain annoying git interrupted us" I responded, standing up and walking up to Daphne's sofa, and taking a seat there.

He totally ignored my comment, adding one of his own.

"I heard you hexed McCuliber today Rosey" said he with a grin.

"I did," I replied, "What's it to you Zabini?"

"Oh, nothing Rosey" responded he, but added "I merely wished to offer to get Pansy for you."

"What ever would I want Pansy for?" I asked, not entirely sure what the prat was talking about.

"Target practice of course" replied he, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh" I replied, smirking "I assure you, my aiming skills are in no need of improvement."

"Fun then?" asked he, smirking "you are ever so cruel when you are in need of entertainment. Although… I would be more than happy to help you out in that aspect."

"In your dreams Zabini" I replied, standing up. Daphne and Zabini mimicked me and the latter replied, "Oh Rosey, how ever did you guess?"

Daphne blushed a little at that, but I ignored him completely.

"Rest well Daphne" I spoke and she smiled in response "You too Linda."

"Sweet dreams Rosey" called Blaise, as I had made a couple of steps away from them.

"My name, Zabini, is Rosalind." I spoke, turning to him "If you insist on addressing me, use that name. Your nicknames are rather annoying and ill placed."

At that, I turned leaving the room without waiting for a response, frankly too tired for any discussion with a git.

* * *

I approached the office, and raised my fist to knock on the wooden doors. Just as my fist neared the wood of the doors, they swung open on their own accord.

I lowered my hand slowly, raising my chin up and stepping through the threshold. Professor McGonagall seemed focused on the papers before her, but as I approached her desk she spoke up; " Good evening miss Kersey"

"Good evening professor" I replied, my voice void of any emotion, as I was careful not to let me dislike of the professor show openly in my side of the conversation.

The room was silent for a couple of more moments, until professor McGonagall finished her reading and waved her wand, having the papers before her levitate slightly above her desk for a second before moving to the side and lying, one on top of the other, in a small tower.

Professor McGonagall looked up at me, raising her hands and interlocking her fingers before her, leaning back in her chair. She observed me for a couple of seconds, before looking up to my eyes, her own narrowed.

"Your task will be to clean the trophies in this room." She spoke and halted, trying to gauge my reaction before continuing "_without_ use of magic."

I nodded in acceptance of her declaration but she didn't seem to be done yet.

"Good. You will be joined by two Gryffindor students who are also serving detention tonight. You will only be together for a half an hour. Please try to refrain from hexing them in that limited time." I remained silent at that, choosing to irk her more by my lack of response. I already had a pretty good guess as to who the two Gryffindor students would be, and I decided that I could indeed find it within myself to refrain from hexing them for half an hour.

"The cloth you will be using is here" spoke she, opening the closet behind her with a wave of her wand, and I looked over to see a rather ragged piece of cloth, that seemed to have been used for this task since the time professor McGonagall was a student here herself.

I stepped towards it, but stopped upon hearing the woman call my name again.

"Miss Kersey" called she, and I turned, to see her looking at me over the rim of her glasses.

"Yes Professor?" I asked, unsure of I could have possibly done to disobey her order by taking a step to the closet.

"Your wand" called she, stretching her hand and motioning to the part of her desk that was left barren of papers.

"My wand?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow. I had been in detention before, of course, completely innocent of the charges, but not one person had asked me to hand them my wand. Then again, I never had to clean trophies _without_ magic before.

"Yes, your wand" smiled she ever so coldly. "I want to be sure that you will refrain from using magic. I trust you understand, standard procedure."

"Of course " I replied, smiling back, my smile equal in coldness with hers.

I walked back to her desk, taking my wand from the left sleeve of my robes. I held it gently and my eyes traveled down to it, regret barely restrained. I hated parting with it, but I would do so none the less.

I lowered the wand slowly to the wood of the desk, my finger uncurling from the wood of the handle. I turned around then, without glancing back at the wand I had left and approached the closet, taking the rag I was appointed and beginning to clean the trophy closest to me.

A knock was heard on the doors half an hour later, and both Professor McGonagall and I looked up, only to see that two read headed boys entered the room, two identical mischievous grins on their faces.

Their smiles faded slightly upon noticing me in the room, but I ignored them, and the conversation with professor McGonagall that followed, having no interest in two boasting Gryffindors.

My interest, however, along with my attention was awoken when professor McGonagall left her office, leaving the three of us alone without a word. Quite a risky move on her part, especially since my wand was still on her desk, exactly where I had put it a while ago.

"Lookie who we have here Gred" called one of the obnoxious twins.

"I see Forge" replied the other one, and based on their ridiculous manner of addressing each other, I concluded that this one was Fred.

"The little Slytherin got herself in detention" taunted the other one, George and I turned around to face them, the trophy I was cleaning still in my hands.

"Who did you hex, oh great Slytherin Queen?" Taunted Fred, his brother by his side, the both of them facing me, smirking. "A poor, defenseless Hufflepuff?" asked the prat, his face twisting in mock sorrow.

"Or a smart Ravenclaw?" asked the other twin, "poor them, they must have gotten better grades than the legendary snake. Are you really that stuck-up oh, Queen?" at the title, he pompously bowed, grinning from ear to ear.

"But Forge," added Fred, "it may have been a Gryffindor". Saying this, he was turned towards his brother, but as he turned I noticed a hint of malice in his eyes. He would have made a fine Slytherin. "Nah… that's not it, is it Snake? Arielle would eat you alive, now wouldn't she?"

I bit my tongue at every insult they had thrown my way, something rather atypical for me, but when they mentioned Arielle and how "she would eat me alive", I overstepped the barrier that kept me from replying. As if Arielle could ever win over me. Please.

"Arielle, eat _me_ alive?" I asked, the corners of my mouth twisting into a sneer "Get a grip _Weasley_ and remember who you're talking to. The most she would do is set a couple of dungbombs inside my common room, or die the hair of some unlucky Slytherin." I stepped closer to the two of them, raising my chin and glaring at the two of them, letting them know how low exactly it is that I considered them to be. Arielle would, truth be told, turn downright murderous if I sent her little cub in the hospital wing, but she was not evil. Perhaps malevolent at times, cruel, even, but not evil. I was. She could never win against me if we went all out and she knew it.

Just as George opened his mouth to retort the doors swung open and professor McGonagall marched in, looking extremely cross, and I guessed, rather correctly that she had been in the Hospital Wing.

"To show such cruelty towards a member of your own house, " ranted she, and the twins turned to gape at me "I have never seen such a thing. Even from the Slytherins." She seemed to turn ever more cross but my lack of response. "The boy will be in the hospital wing for a week!"

"I am truly sorry professor" I droned "I was aiming for two." I then turned away from her, continuing my work on the trophies, but not before I noticed two matching grins on the faces of the twins.

I jumped a little as the doors to professor Mcgonagall's office were slammed open, Arielle entering, practically screaming in her rant.

"_Oi_ Linds," called she, in her hurry completely disregarding the fact that professor McGonagall might be in her own damn office. Moron. "Are you done yet? We need to go blow up some toilets!"

I rolled my eyes at her and glanced towards her head of the house , turning her attention on the professor. She grinned like a maniac, which she obviously was, trying to charm her way out of the mess she had made for herself. "I was thinking more sinks, that sort of thing" smiled she "my sister asked to be sent one, you know, as a souvenir. "

For once, I approved of the old professor, who didn't seem to be swayed in the slightest by the charm displayed by my obnoxious friend.

"Try to do that miss Hayes, " warned she " and you will see another detention, possibly with professor Umbridge."

Arielle frowned at that, twisting her features in a look of disgust typically found on a child and responded "I would rather have detention with Filch or Snape."

Professor Mcgonagall walked forward, presumably to leave her office yet again, and as she walked she spoke "That can be arranged miss Hayes."

The last sentence she spoke was addressed at me , and the distinction between her sentiments towards the two of us was clear to my ears "You are done Miss Kersey, I hope this will not be repeated."

"As do I, _Professor."_ I replied, as she stepped over the threshold of her office, closing the doors of her office. I walked up to her table, retrieving my wand and placing it in my left sleeve, for easy access.

The obnoxious twins then used the chance to hang themselves on Arielle, each taking one arm and grinning wildly at me.

"ARI dearest" called Fred, almost shouting her ear off "Where have you been hiding this wonderful creature?"

Arielle seemed to do a double take as I turned around, gaping and turning her head in turns from the twins on one side, and me on the other side. It was clear they were referring to me and I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Idiots.

"What in the name of Merlin did you do to them?" asked she, obviously concerned for the mental well-being of her friends.

"This time, surprisingly, nothing" I responded, walking towards the doors. "They simply found out that I used magic to harm a member of my own house."

"Ah that, " nodded she in acceptance, prying the twins off of her person and walking to join me "I heard about that. Melody isn't happy with you at the moment, in fact, I'd say she was rather cross."

"Irrelevant, " I spoke, halting in my steps and turning to her, meeting her eyes with determination. "Nobody hexes my sister. And that's my final word on that matter."

"Yeah yeah" muttered she in response "that's all nice and dandy, but we need to get to the girls. Wouldn't want another attention because we're out after curfew, now would we?"

"I can think of no greater misfortune" I droned, rolling my eyes at her statement. As if being out after curfew ever stopped the likes of Arielle Hayes in pulling some childish prank.

* * *

The two of us walked into the room and the two girls already occupying the room raised their head and Clo smiled in greeting. My sister however did not smile, partly out of anger that I could still see in her eyes, and partly out of worry. She was a coward by no means, but she was the kind of a person that chose to see the world as it really was, and then opt to look at its bright side. Therefore, she found it hard indeed to believe that a story, despite being known to more than three quarters of the children attending Hogwarts through this medium or that, could be true at its very essence.

Arielle walked past me and stopped in front of one of the empty tables in the abandoned classroom, taking a bracelet, similar to the ones the three of them were wearing and turned towards me grinning.

"Here ya go grumpy" spoke she, throwing the bracelet my way and as I snatched it from mid-air, she smirked "Nice reflexes."

"I know " I smirked back, examining the bracelet I had caught. It was made of sliver, that much I was sure of, as I felt the heaviness of the metal in my palm. The chain was made of two interlocking strings, twisting in a snake like manner, towards the plate that stood in the middle of the bracelet, upon it engraved a single word. _Ambition._

"Custom made I presume" I noted ,my fingers unclasping the bracelet and placing it around my right wrist.

"Of course" replied Arielle, her stupid grin still in place.

I nodded mutely at that, taking out my wand and taping the bracelet with it, clasping it around my wrist.

"They're unique" continued the Gryffindor, "Soul heirs only, specially made for each generation."

"I feel privileged" I responded, rolling my eyes at her.

"As you should" responded she, moving to stand by my side, and patting me on my back, receiving a glare in response. "We are, after all, _legendary._"

I raised my eyebrow at that but said nothing, turning to my sister who was still observing the bracelet with mistrust.

"And this is supposed to transport us to the trunk?" asked she, a slight frown on her face as she glanced up to us, distinctly avoiding my eyes. "Are you sure that this is going to work?"

"Of course we are" I replied, and she glanced up at me shortly, before remembering that she was cross with me and looking away stubbornly. "The spells originate from Arielle's mother herself, and the idiot and I charmed the blasted things personally. There is no chance of failure."

"I don't know… this all seems a bit far-fetched to me" she responded, biting down on her lip, as she often did when she was nervous.

"OI, trust my mother will you?" exclaimed Arielle, slightly affronted by the lack of faith, so unusual for my sister. "She was, as Clo likes to point out, a Ravenclaw."

"We have nothing to lose Mells" spoke Clo by her side "it is highly unlikely that the charms would act up the moment we used them, since they showed no indication of doing so while they were being cast. Besides," spoke she, smiling" we had two very skilled witches charm them. I for one, believe in Linds and Ari"

"Thanks Clo!" exclaimed the idiot by my side and I rolled my eyes at her happiness. Such a simple creature, so very… _emotional._

_"_Good, now that we agree that the bracelets are safe, I suppose we need to choose a time to use them." I spoke, rather impatient to get this entire ordeal over with. If there was one thing I simply abhorred, and chose to avoid at any time, then it surely would be waiting.

"I think it would be best we used them in Saturday morning, " spoke Clo and earned out attention "you know, so that we avoid losing time as much as possible."

"Wouldn't it be better that we used them at night, so that we have the entire night at our disposal?" I asked, trying to think of every possible solution to the problem, and avoid losing time, time we already lacked.

"Yes, but then, there is the possibility that we would lose out on the day after, and I figured that we could just go in Saturday morning, when we have had our rest from the week, and be back by Sunday evening if all goes according to plan."

"Smart" I concluded after a while of careful consideration. "Is everyone free then?"

"I am." Responded my sister quietly, still avoiding my eyes.

"So am I " grinned Arielle to my side and I nodded in acceptance.

"Good. Then that's settled." I concluded, turning to leave before I heard my name being called.

I was slightly surprised that it was my sister who called out to me, since she usually took much longer to get over a fight. I suppose that the difficult circumstances were taking their toll more severely on my sister than I had assumed.

"Can we talk?" she asked and I nodded in response, inclining my head and having her follow me outside the classroom. I turned to walk ahead, but not before I noticed a warning look from Arielle, most likely meant to say "behave". I scoffed at that mentally, like I ever misbehaved towards my own damn sister. Please.

We made a couple of steps in silence, just enough to get out of the earshot before my sister took a sharp turn to the left, in a secluded alcove known to me as a place Hogwarts couples used for privacy, as I had stumbled upon them more often than not as I wondered the Hogwarts halls at night.

" What you did yesterday…" spoke she, looking down at me slightly as she was taller than me by a few inches, "I am very cross about it."

"I know." I replied, looking back at her confidently.

"I know you know" spoke she, frowning slightly "And I know that you do not consider what you have done as something that was wrong on your part."

"Of course not." I replied immediately, knowing that she did not see the situation form my point of view, and blatantly refusing to observe it from hers. "It was necessary."

"Was it Linds?" asked she, "was it really? Because I think that it was not. Do you think of me as weak as to be unable to defend myself from a bully of all things? Do I not deserve more trust then that?"

She ended up raising her voice in frustration by the end of her speech, but it seemed to me that there was no anger in her, or, alternately, that the amount of anger there was in here had receded significantly. She just seemed so …. Sad.

"Is that what this is about?" I asked, arching my eyebrow at her. I was not expecting this." You think that I consider you weak? That I am doing this because I don't have trust in your abilities?"

I observed her as I awaited a response and huffed as she nodded in confirmation.

"Don't be thick Melody" I replied, rather annoyed with her "this was never about power or trust. I know that you are powerful, even if you yourself don't know to what extent. After all, you were able to stop a hex from me. Not many students of this school have the privilege of stating such a thing. And trust… please." I scoffed. "I have always trusted you Melody. You and the two idiots we left in that room."

"Then why?" asked she, seemingly even more confused.

"Because you're family." I responded "You're my only sister. And I will never allow them to touch you, I'll always be watching over you, even when a time comes when you grow beyond my reach. And such a time will most surely come."

"You see Melody, this has always been my own selfishness. I will keep you alive because I cannot imagine living on without you." With that said, I turned around and left my sister to her thoughts, choosing to avoid unnecessary emotional scenes. Emotions, just like compassion, were never a strong point of mine.


End file.
